page_title: Rudolph G. Wilson
section_title: Life and teaching career
hierarchical_section_title: Rudolph G. Wilson / Life and teaching career
caption_attribution_description: English: Wilson telling stories at Principia College, Alton in 2009.
context_page_description: Rudolph G. Wilson was an American professor, writer, storyteller, and public speaker, known by his students as Papa Rudy. He was the first African-American member, and later the first elected black president, of the Edwardsville School Board. At Claremont Grad School in 1965, he was the first African American to teach in an all-white school. He was, until retirement in 2009, the Assistant Provost for Cultural and Social Diversity at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, as well as holding the academic rank of Associate Professor of Secondary Education in the department of Curriculum and Instruction.
context_section_description: Wilson was born in Detroit, Michigan, according to his birth certificate. He graduated in the top ten from River Rouge High School, Michigan, in 1953.
  He attended UCLA for three years from 1953 to 1955, then went into the army from 1955 to 1958. He returned to Los Angeles State College to complete his undergraduate degree in English. He then went to Claremont Graduate University for his master's degree and later pursued other graduate studies at Washington University in St. Louis, at the University of California at Los Angeles, and at Stanford University.
  He returned to Claremont Graduate School in 1965 to teach, on invitation of a colleague, Dean Wiley, who was appointed president of the School of Education. Wilson was the first African American to teach in the all-white school.
  In June 17, 1969, he resumed at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Not long after, he became the assistant provost for Cultural and Social Diversity and a professor in the School of Education. He worked there until 2009 as Assistant Provost for Cultural and Social Diversity and a professor in School of Education.
caption: "Papa Rudy" telling stories at Principia College, Alton, in 2009
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