Dr. Robert S. Peterkin, a lifelong educator and tireless defender of the rights of children, particularly children of color, who served as superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools from 1988 to 1991, has died. He was 79.
Born and raised in New York City, Peterkin started his career in Albany, NY, teaching children with behavioral disabilities and founded an alternative school for students who had dropped out of high school, according to his obituary. He was selected as Boston’s first Black public school headmaster and served during the years of busing. In 1988, he was appointed superintendent of schools in Milwaukee, the first African American in that role.
Peterkin graduated from the State University of New York at Albany and earned a doctorate from the University of Massachusetts. After leading Milwaukee Public Schools, he joined Harvard University as the director of the Urban Superintendents Program (USP) in 1991 where he provided extensive high-quality training and experience for prospective urban school leaders.
