T. Elon Dancy II

T. Elon Dancy II is a Professor in the Department of Educational Foundations, Organizations, and Policy at the University of Pittsburgh School of Education, holding affiliate appointments in Africana Studies and Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies. He previously served as the Helen S. Faison Endowed Chair and Executive Director of the Center for Urban Education (CUE), securing over $5 million in funding from major foundations including NSF, Spencer, and Heinz Endowments. At the University of Oklahoma, he made history as the first Black associate dean and tenured full professor in his department.

Dr. Dancy earned his B.S. in psychology (honors) from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, M.H.S.A. from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and Ph.D. in educational leadership from Louisiana State University with distinction. His dissertation received the School of Education’s Dissertation of the Year Award and an AERA Division J Citation for Excellence.

His research centers on Black intellectual thought, anti-Blackness in higher education, and political economies of education, drawing from Black knowledge traditions to examine educational spaces as sites of struggle for Black Americans. He is renowned for studies on Black masculinity in postsecondary contexts and urban education frameworks rooted in collective freedom praxis, influencing national discourse through publications in Teachers College Record and Urban Education.

Recent scholarship analyzes institutional responses to racial justice movements, memory practices in Black communities, and historical connections between plantation economies and modern universities. His work consistently bridges academic research with community-based liberatory practices, particularly in Pittsburgh’s Hill District.

• Derrick Bell Legacy Award (2022) from Critical Race Studies in Education Association
• Top Emerging Scholar (2014) and Distinguished Educator (2018) from Diverse Issues in Higher Education
• AERA Division J Citation for Excellence and School of Education Dissertation Award

Dr. Dancy has secured $5M+ in research funding including a $2M McElhattan Foundation grant for 'Practices of Freedom' and $1.77M from Chan Zuckerberg Initiative for personalized learning projects. He established the T. Elon Dancy II Graduate Student Scholarship at OU and mentors emerging scholars in critical race education. His grant portfolio emphasizes community-driven solutions to educational inequity through intergenerational collaborations.

As CUE director, he founded transformative initiatives including the Heinz Fellows Program, MathUp Connections, High-Impact Retired Teachers Project, and Hill District Community Living Room Series. These programs center Black and Indigenous knowledge traditions through partnerships with Pittsburgh Public Schools, Pitt Hillman Library’s August Wilson Archives, and local community organizations to advance educational justice.