An internationally known educator and former president of the National Education Association (NEA), Mary Hatwood Futrell, Ed.D., has dedicated her career to education and education policy.

Futrell is a professor whose scholarship focuses on education policy and administration.. She has served as Dean of The George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development (GW/GSEHD) in Washington, D.C., as well as the director of the Institute for Curriculum, Standards, and Technology. Through the institute, GW/GSEHD has taken a leadership role in supporting teachers participating in the National Board for Professional Standards voluntary certification process.

Futrell was the first African-American woman elected to head the NEA, after serving as head of the VEA.  In addition to her unprecedented six-year term leading the NEA, Futrell founded Education International, which represents 23,000,000 million educators worldwide. She is a former president of the World Confederation of Organizations of the Teaching Profession and was a senior consultant for Quality Education for Minorities Network. Futrell has served on the boards of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Kettering Foundation, and the Institute for Educational Leadership. In 2004, she joined the Board of Advisors of Teachers Support Network. (TSN).

Futrell was named President of Americans for UNESCO in 2010. She was also awarded the John Hope Franklin Award in 2013 from Diverse: Issues in Higher Education.