Durene I. Wheeler (she/her), Ph. D., is a Professor at Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) in the Goodwin College of Education’s Educational Foundations (EDFN) and Community and Teacher Leaders programs. She holds a Core faculty appointment in African & African American Studies (AFAM) along with Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies (WGSS).  Dr. Wheeler has served as Program Coordinator for both AFAM and WGSS academic programs.  Additionally, she was appointed the founding Graduate Facilitator and Advisor for the Master of Arts in Community and Teacher Leaders (MACTL) program at NEIU (September 2015-December 2018).  Her teaching and research interests include historical intersections of race, class, culture, and gender in U.S. Education, Black women’s experiences in higher education, liberatory and engaging pedagogy, and achieving critical thinking and compassion through culturally sustaining teaching and learning practices.

As Director of the Angelina Pedroso Center for Diversity & Intercultural Affairs from August 2019 to January 2022, Dr. Wheeler and her team enhanced and hosted a 7-week Social Justice Institute for NEIU’s faculty and staff via the Desire 2 Learn (D2L) Instructional Management System.  She has presented at various International, National and Regional conferences on issues of intersectionality, social justice in education, creating critical curriculum and culturally conscious classrooms, anti-racist pedagogy, and Black Women’s working in Higher Education.  She is co-editor of the anthology Black Women’s Liberatory Pedagogies: Resistance, Transformation, and Healing Within and Beyond the Academy, addressing the pedagogical practices of Black women in and outside of the academy across multiple disciplines. 

Dr. Wheeler received her Master of Arts in Higher Education and Student Affairs with a minor in Counseling Psychology (1996) and her Doctorate in Educational Philosophy (2004) from the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. Her Bachelor’s degree was obtained from the College of Wooster in Wooster, OH (1989).  She is the proud parent of one child.