Antonia Darder

Dr. Antonia Darder is an internationally recognized critical scholar. She holds the Leavey Presidential Chair of Ethics and Moral Leadership at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles and is Professor Emerita of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. Her scholarship focuses on issues of racism, political economy, education, social justice, and society. Antonia was born in Puerto Rico and raised in East Los Angeles. As a young single mother of three children and living on welfare, she completed her studies in nursing at Pasadena City College. She attended California State University Los Angeles and then Pacific Oaks College where she studied human development with a focus on Marriage and Family Therapy. She earned her doctoral degree in Philosophy of Education from Claremont Graduate University.