[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 51 (Tuesday, April 13, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E523-E524]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   A TRIBUTE TO MARY HATWOOD FUTRELL

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JAMES P. MORAN

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 13, 2010

  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate 
Mary Hatwood Futrell on her remarkable career as the Dean of the 
Graduate School of Education and Human Development at The George 
Washington University. Many in this body will remember Dr. Futrell from 
her decades of involvement and leadership at the National Education 
Association, where she was president from 1983 to 1989.
  Throughout her entire distinguished career, Dr. Futrell has been a 
trailblazer in Virginia and the national education debate. Born and 
raised in Altavista, Virginia, she graduated from Dunbar High School in 
Lynchburg and received a Business Education Degree from Virginia State 
University. In 1965, she helped integrate the teaching staff at George 
Washington High School in Alexandria, where she would continue to teach 
until 1980--becoming chair of her department and an active participant 
in the Alexandria and Virginia Education Associations.
  In 1968, Dr. Futrell became the first African American president of 
the Virginia Education Association. She fought hard for teachers' 
rights, and in that same year she led a march of 7,000 teachers and 
public school employees on Richmond to protest a Virginia Supreme Court 
ruling striking down collective bargaining rights for public employees. 
At the time, it was one of the largest marches ever to take place in 
the history of Virginia.
  Dr. Futrell became president of the National Education Association in 
1983. There she served an unprecedented three terms. She worked 
tirelessly to strengthen and grow the association, move it to take 
forceful positions on collective bargaining rights, and to bring a 
higher profile to important issues like drop-out rates and changing 
school curriculum needs.

[[Page E524]]

  After stepping down as president of the NEA, Dr. Futrell joined The 
George Washington University as a fellow, earned her PhD, and quickly 
became a faculty member and the Dean of the Graduate School of 
Education and Human Development. In her role as Dean she contributed 
greatly to education both nationally and locally. Under her leadership 
the School's prominence has grown dramatically; its enrollments have 
increased 45 percent and it is now more selective than ever before. The 
Graduate School has raised more than $200 million in funding for 
research and educational efforts during her tenure and has started 10 
centers of excellence that help guide education policy on the national 
stage and in local school districts across the country.
  Throughout that time, Dr. Futrell has always kept her close ties to 
the Commonwealth. She makes sure that her faculty teaches in all of 
GW's Virginia locations--Arlington, Alexandria, Ashburn and Hampton 
Roads. Indeed, Dr. Futrell herself drives to the university's Hampton 
Roads Center to teach classes each semester. She has built a strong 
following and has personally educated many of the great principals, 
superintendents and education leaders in Virginia today.
  As she relinquishes her deanship, I want to wish Dr. Futrell many 
more successful years of teaching and thank her for her lifetime of 
dedication to her profession and to the students and teachers of the 
Commonwealth of Virginia.

                          ____________________