Sharon P. Robinson
B.A. in English, ’66
M.A. in Jr High/Secondary/Distributive Education, ’76
Ed.D. in Administration and Supervision, ’79
Named to the Alumni Hall of Fame in 1991

Dr. Sharon Porter Robinson, as we reported, is President and CEO of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE).

Robinson is the first African-American woman to serve as the association’s chief executive officer.

She has had previous appointments as Senior Vice President and COO of Educational Testing Service (ETS), Princeton, New Jersey. She began her work with ETS in 1996 as vice president for state and federal relations.

Robinson has served in a variety of leadership positions in education including assistant secretary of education at the U.S. Department of Education.

Appointed by President Clinton, she was sworn in June 28, 1993, as assistant secretary for educational research and improvement.  

Robinson is also a past director of the National Education Association's (NEA) National Center for Innovation. 

In 1989, Robinson became director of the NEA's research and development arm, the National Center for Innovation, and also led the Center's Teacher Education Initiative. From 1980 to 1989, she served as NEA's director of instruction and professional development. She also has served as a consultant to the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

In the late '70s, Robinson was associate director of the Jefferson County Education Consortium. She served as a graduate assistant at the Kentucky Desegregation Training Institute. She also was a classroom teacher in Lexington, Kentucky, and at the U.S. Air Force Base in Bitburg, Germany.

A native of Louisville, Robinson earned a doctorate in educational administration and supervision (1979), a master's degree in curriculum and instruction (1976), and bachelor's degrees in education, English, and psychology (1966), all from the College of Education at the University of Kentucky.