Elizabeth Todd-Breland

Elizabeth Todd-Breland serves as Associate Professor of History at the University of Illinois at Chicago's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, specializing in 20th-century United States urban history, African American history, and history of education. Her research examines racialized political struggles around power, resources, and representation in urban contexts.

Her scholarly focus spans urban history, social and economic inequality, race relations, education policy, and civic engagement. She employs interdisciplinary approaches connecting historical analysis with contemporary urban policy debates, particularly in Chicago.

Her publications reveal consistent thematic focus on the intersection of race, education, and political power since the Civil Rights era. Both major works analyze how educational institutions reflect and shape broader societal inequalities, with particular attention to Black political organizing and neighborhood transformation.

Professor Todd-Breland has received research funding from prestigious institutions including:

• National Academy of Education
• Spencer Foundation
• Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
• American Council of Learned Societies
• Social Science Research Council
• Ford Foundation
• UIC Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy

She served as Vice President of the Chicago Board of Education from 2019 to 2024, actively shaping urban education policy. Her public scholarship extends through frequent media contributions to NPR, ESPN, Washington Post, and local outlets. She also leads professional development workshops on African American history and racial justice.

Her current digital humanities project maps connections between school inequality, housing patterns, and neighborhood change, demonstrating her commitment to spatial analysis of urban racial dynamics.