Michael W Scott

Michael Scott was sworn in as a member of the PBC's Board of Commissioners in April of 2009, after being named in February of 2009 as President of the Chicago Board of Education. It was Mr. Scott's third appointment to the Board of Education, his second as its president, in a long line of distinguished public service. Mr. Scott is a product of the Lawndale community and the Chicago Public Schools system. He graduated from Fordham University with a bachelor's degree in urban planning and launched his career with Pyramidwest Development Corp., where as Vice President he was instrumental in many North Lawndale developments. He went on to become the Director of Community Development for the Lawndale People's Planning and Action Council from 1978 to 1982. It was during that time that Mr. Scott was first appointed by Mayor Jane Byrne to the Chicago Board of Education, from 1980 to 1981. He went on to serve under the late Mayor Harold Washington, who appointed Mr. Scott as the Director of the Chicago Department of Special Events and Special Assistant to the Mayor in charge of Communications. Under the late Mayor Eugene Sawyer, he again served as Director of the Mayor's Office of Special Events. In the corporate sector, Mr. Scott served as the General Manager for Prime Cable, the Vice President of Local Government Affairs for AT&T Broadband, and Vice President of Regulatory Affairs for the Comcast Corporation. In 2001, he formed and became President of Michael Scott & Associates, LLC., a real estate development and investment firm. He was appointed President of the Chicago Park District Board in 1996, overseeing the Park District's Citywide Capital Improvement Program. Among his accomplishments, Mr. Scott was the catalyst for the restoration of the Garfield Park Conservatory. He also increased the Park District's non-tax revenue from $20 million to $110 million, sparing taxpayers from a tax increase by addressing the district's financial needs through a system of privatization. Mr. Scott served his second term on the Chicago Board of Education from 2001 until 2006, appointed by Mayor Richard M. Daley as President. In 2006, Mr. Scott was appointed to the National Board of Directors of YMCA of the USA, and in 2007 he was appointed to the Board of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, where he served for one year and then was appointed to sit on the Board of Directors for the Regional Transportation Authority, where he still serves. Mr. Scott was recently appointed to the Chicago 2016 Olympic Committee and continues to serve on the boards of the Chicago Urban League, After School Matters, the Better Boys Foundation, and the National Board for buildOn, as well as many other non-profit and civic organizations.