Dr. Ingrid P. Whitaker

Dr. Ingrid P. Whitaker

Dr. Ingrid Phillips Whitaker, who previously served on the Portsmouth City School Board from 2014 to 2018, was elected to the Board again on November 3, 2020. She currently serves as a tenured associate professor of Sociology in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at Old Dominion University.  Since beginning her academic career at Old Dominion University in 1996, Dr. Whitaker has taught courses on the graduate and undergraduate level including: Sociological Theory, Social Policy, Introduction to Sociology, Minority Group Relations, Minority Families, Social Welfare, Introduction to Social Work, Introduction to African American Studies, and African American Social and Political Thought.  Dr. Whitaker also has presented her research at national conferences and has been published in scholarly journals.

Dr. Whitaker is a native of Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies and is married to Rev. Dr. Mark M. Whitaker, who taught for 25 years as a college professor and serves as the Assistant Pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church in Portsmouth.  In November 2014, Dr. Mark Whitaker and Dr. Ingrid Whitaker made history by becoming the first married couple elected to Portsmouth City Council and Portsmouth School Board, respectively.

After migrating to the United States in 1969, Dr. Whitaker was educated in the Chicago Public Schools. In 1983, she graduated with honors from the prestigious Kenwood Academy. Dr. Whitaker graduated from the University of Illinois-Chicago in 1988 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and Psychology. In 1990, Dr. Whitaker received the Master of Social Work from the University of Michigan, the Master of Art in Sociology from the University of Michigan in 1992, and the Ph.D. degree in Sociology and Social Work from the University of Michigan in 1997.

Dr. Whitaker is a passionate advocate for the welfare of children. In her previous service on the School Board she became well-known for championing the cause of using research-based approaches to improving public services for students. She also served as chair of the Minority and Women Contracting Committee.

Dr. Whitaker and her husband have four children: James, a graduate of Georgetown University and North Carolina A&T State University; Naomi, a graduate of East Carolina University; Nathaniel, a freshman at Morehouse College; and Rachel, a sophomore at I.C. Norcom High School.









 
*School Board members are individually elected by a vote of eligible citizens.  Individual members have no authority or duties except as may be assigned to them by the School Board as a whole.  Information provided in the School Board member biographies is provided by the member and does not necessarily represent the position of Portsmouth Public Schools or the School Board as a whole.

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