historical & Current Excellence of black males in education

Dr. Daniel J. Thomas III is an assistant professor of Urban Education  in the Department of Teaching Learning & Culture at Texas A&M University. Dr. Thomas' research focuses on the historical and contemporary experiences of Black male teachers and Black boys as well as the teaching of Black history in social studies courses.  Dr. Thomas is the author of 16 scholarly publications that have been featured in leading academic outlets including: Teachers College Record, International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, Peabody Journal of Education, Race, Ethnicity & Education,  Urban Education, Theory and Research in Social Education, The Social Studies, and Sport, Education, and Society. At the University of Texas, Dr. Thomas won both the 3-Minute Thesis competition as well as the university's distinguished 'Outstanding Dissertation Award'. His most recent work on "(Re)imagining Self-Determination" has been awarded a $30,000 grant. 

Prior to the completion of his doctoral studies, Thomas taught secondary social studies in the Baltimore-Washington region where he simultaneously coached and mentored youth through a non-profit organization ran by a network of Black male teacher-coaches called Next Level Nation. He served alongside New Orleans Saints football coach, Cory Robinson, and the first African American Governor of Maryland, Wes Moore. During his stint working in college athletics at UC Berkeley, Thomas spearheaded the creation of the Black Student-Athlete Committee (BSAC). Dr. Thomas earned his PhD in Curriculum & Instruction from the University of Texas at Austin, Master of Arts in Teaching Secondary Social Studies from Johns Hopkins University, and Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Maryland where he was a walk-on football student-athlete.