Hattie N. Washington, Ph.D.

Dr. Hattie N. Washington served as a tenured Professor of Education at Coppin State University (CSU) in Baltimore for over 20 years. Dr. Washington made history as the first female Vice President in the University’s 100-year history. At the same time, she served as Executive Director of the Coppin State University Development Foundation. Her charge in this position was to implement a capital campaign to raise $3 million in five years, but she undertook a more ambitious campaign goal and presented $8 million to the Coppin State Foundation Board, the Coppin Family and the Board of Regents - $5 million over goal!

During the same time, she also founded Aunt Hattie’s Place, Inc (AHP), a non-profit residential facility in Baltimore, in 1997 to care for males from the foster care system with special educational needs. Her dedication to youth with vast potential but mislabeled prompted her to cash in her own retirement funds to support the opening of this boys’ home. She later acquired grants, bonds and donations to establish and build other group homes in Randallstown and Sandy Spring. With a loving staff, a team of professional practitioners and volunteers, she provided care and nurturing for boys and young men ages eight to 21 who had been abused, abandoned and neglected. Some were in special education or were several grade levels below their peers. Despite the tremendous needs of her new family members, “Aunt Hattie” believes that “all children are talented, intelligent, loveable and full of hope; but just need love, guidance, structure and high expectations to achieve their full potential.” Aunt Hattie has impacted more than 100 young men who have gone on to become productive citizens in their chosen careers. They needed a “helping hand,” not a “hand out.”

Dr. Washington is the author of Driven to Succeed: Lessons Learned Through Faith, Family and Favor. Proceeds from this book and two more books scheduled for release in 2018 will benefit her scholarship fund at Coppin State University for foster youth who have aged out of the system and want to continue their education.

Dr. Washington holds a Bachelors of Science Degree in Elementary Education from Norfolk State University with a minor in Special Education, a Masters Degree from Ball State University (an Athens, Greece Overseas Program) in Counseling Psychology, and a Doctorate from the University of Maryland College Park in Curriculum and Instruction. She has engaged in further post-graduate study in Multicultural Education and Special Education at Glasgow University in Scotland, UK (on a Rotary International Scholarship), in Executive Management (IEM) at Harvard University in Boston, and in Institutional Accountability in Higher Education at Oxford University in London, England.

She has received numerous awards, plaques, citations and other recognitions for her work with Aunt Hattie’s Place, Coppin State University, foster children and community organizations. Just a few, include: the 2013 Outstanding Service to Youth by the Montgomery County Commission on Youth and Families, Top 100 Minority Business Entrepreneurial of the Year (2009 and 2012), the Community Service Award for Excellence in Leadership, and the Outstanding 2013 Graduate Faculty Award from Coppin State University.