birth_place party birth_date article_title name alma_mater
athens , georgia , u.s. democratic 5 january 1953 mike thurmond
 mike thurmond paine college university of south carolina , columbia
mike thurmond

michael l. thurmond -lrb- born 5 january 1953 -rrb- is the interim superintendent of the dekalb county school district , the third largest district in the state of georgia .
the district serves nearly 99,000 students with over 13,400 employees .
he is currently on leave from the butler , wooten & fryhofer law firm .
thurmond was the democratic party 's nominee for united states senate in 2010 .
thurmond was raised as a sharecropper 's son in clarke county , georgia .
he graduated cum laude with a b.a. in philosophy and religion from paine college and later earned a juris doctor degree from the university of south carolina school of law .
he also completed the political executives program at the john f. kennedy school of government at harvard university .
in 1986 , he became the first african-american elected to the georgia general assembly from clarke county since reconstruction .
during his legislative tenure , thurmond authored major legislation that has provided more than $ 250 million in tax relief to georgia 's senior citizens and working families .
following his legislative service , thurmond was called upon to lead the state division of family and children 's services and direct georgia 's historic transition from welfare to work .
he created the innovative work first program , which helped over 90,000 welfare-dependent georgia families move from dependence into the workforce .
in 1997 , thurmond became a distinguished lecturer at the university of georgia 's carl vinson institute of government .
the following year in november , he was elected georgia labor commissioner , becoming the first non-incumbent african american to be elected to statewide office in georgia .
during his three terms as commissioner , the georgia labor department underwent a major transformation in customer service and efficiency .
his georgia works program has earned national praise and bi-partisan support .
president barack obama based part of the american jobs act after the georgia works model .
however , thurmond 's most gratifying accomplishment as a public official was the construction of a $ 20 million school for young people with disabilities at the historic roosevelt institute in warm springs , georgia .
he is the recipient of two honorary doctorate degrees from clark atlanta university and lagrange college .
thurmond has also served as a motivational speaker to state school board associations in nine southern states on issues regarding leadership , diversity , and public education advocacy in the 21st century .
thurmond 's latest book , `` freedom : georgia 's antislavery heritage , 1733-1865 , '' was awarded the georgia historical society 's lilla hawes award .
the georgia center for the book listed `` freedom '' as one of the 25 books all georgian 's should read .
he presently serves on the board of curators of the georgia historical society .
he is married to zola fletcher thurmond , and they have one daughter , mikaya thurmond .
