Dr. Lucien Ellington
Dr. Lucien Ellington, director of the Center for Reflective Citizenship at UTC, was honored with a special Outstanding Leadership in American History Award by the Chief John Ross Chapter, NSDAR. Dr. Ellington was recognized for his commitment to informed citizenship, as evidenced by his organization of UTC’s Constitution Day Symposium and Lecture series, coordination of the Constitutional Scholars program and engagement with public and private classroom teachers through curriculum development and educational workshops. Chief John Ross Chapter former Regent Luanne DeWitt, who has worked with Dr. Ellington on the Constitution Day Symposium and Lecture series since its inception, presented him with the award.
Ms. DeWitt said, “Lucien Ellington has been the leader in this region’s observance of Constitution Day for years. His choice of visiting scholars as the Constitution Day speakers has been inspirational and each has had an important message for the audience which includes high school and college students along with college professionals and patriotic community residents. The efforts he has put into this event has helped it to become a special evening of education that we look forward to attending each year. Constitution Day is observed on Sept. 17 and Dr. Ellington’s event is always timed to be close to that day. The Chief John Ross Chapter encourages you to look forward to announcements regarding the 2020 Constitution Day Observance.”
Dr. Ellington is the UC Foundation Professor of Education at UTC and holds advanced degrees in history, economics education and education and is also a Senior Fellow with the Foreign Policy Research Institute. Dr. Ellington currently teaches or has taught a wide array of courses including American government, economics and world history. As director of the Center for Reflective Citizenship, Dr. Ellington has received funding from the Earhart and Apgar Foundations as well as the Jack C. Miller Center. Since 2013, he has coordinated successful teacher citizenship institutes on politics, economics, religion and foreign policy.
Since 2012, Dr. Ellington has coordinated eight annual UTC Constitution Day lectures featuring noted historian-scholars Josiah Bunting, James Caesar, Bradley Birzer, Michael Federici, Wilfred McClay, Richard Gamble, David Bobb and Gary L. Gregg.
Additionally, Dr. Ellington has worked with several Chattanooga-area schools in implementing the Core Knowledge Curriculum and is the co-editor of a pivotal volume on social studies reform, Where Did Social Studies Go Wrong? [Fordham Foundation] Having authored or coauthored more than 80 articles, essays and chapters in journals and edited volumes on civic education, social studies, economic education and other history-related topics, Dr. Ellington’s work has resulted in appearances on CNN and C-Span and conference presentations across the states.