Patricia Walker currently teaches communications courses at Indiana University Northwest in Gary, Indiana, and also at Prairie State College in Chicago Heights, Illinois. She plans to defend her doctoral dissertation in Spring 2009. Walker is also an educational consultant for classroom teachers in metropolitan Chicago. Likewise, she designs year-round youth programs for school districts and nonprofit agencies. At the time she received the Milken National Educator Award in 1991, she was the teacher-coordinator of an award-winning parenting program for school-aged mothers called COPE (Cooperative Parenting Education), which was discontinued in 1994. Walker continues to mentor former students regarding viable options (e.g., postsecondary education, entry-level jobs or the military). Some of her former students are college graduates and have advanced to high-paying jobs in the public and private sectors. Walker continues to mentor young women regarding viable options instead of early unintended pregnancy and/or parenting.
1971 University of Michigan, B.A.
