Senator John W. Maitland Jr., Commitment to Education Award
Walter H. Warfield, Ph.D. ’78
Scholar in Residence,
University of Illinois at Springfield
Clearwater, Florida
Walter Warfield, Ph.D ’78, completed two degrees before earning a doctorate at Illinois State. He dedicated 42 years to working with students as a teacher, coach, and principal at the middle school and high school level.
He was a research assistant for ISU’s Center for the Study of Educational Finance before becoming superintendent of schools in Decatur, Mattoon, and Fairfield. Warfield was the Illinois Association of School Administrators’ executive director before becoming a scholar in residence at the University of Illinois-Springfield.
Warfield served on various Illinois State Board of Education committees. At ISU he was president of the Administrator’s Club, on the Educational Foundation and Administration Graduate Advisory Committee, on the Alumni Board, and a charter member of the College of Education Hall of Fame.
Warfield served as national president of the Horace Mann League and remains on the board, and as national president of the Association of State Executives. He is executive director emeritus of the Illinois Association of School Administrators.
He and his wife, Catherine, give generously to Illinois State and remain strong advocates. Two of their three children are ISU graduates.
