Helen S. Faison, a pioneer and respected leader in Pittsburgh public education, died this week.
“If there ever was a picture-perfect idea of what you'd think a teacher-educator-superintendent would look like, it would be her,” said Mark Brentley Sr., a Pittsburgh Public Schools board member since 1999. “We just don't have them like her anymore.”
Faison died Thursday at Juniper Village in Forest Hills, said her niece, Millicent Smith. Faison turned 91 on Monday.
Born Helen Smith, she grew up in Homewood and later moved to her parent's home state of Virginia before returning to Pittsburgh.
She graduated in 1942 from Westinghouse High School and enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh, where she earned a bachelor's degree in education. She returned to earn a master's degree in education and a doctorate in educational administration.
“We used to talk about how getting an education was a key to freedom,” said Smith, 62, of Downtown. “Being better educated means you are able to make better decisions.”
Faison found it difficult to land a teaching job after earning her undergraduate degree in 1946, so she worked for the Allegheny County Board of Assistance for three years as a case worker.
In 1950, Pittsburgh Public Schools hired her to teach English and social studies at the now-closed Fifth Avenue High School in the Hill District. A decade later, she became the district's first black high school guidance counselor, working at Westinghouse where she graduated, and then its first female and first black principal when she took over at Fifth Avenue High in 1968.
Faison was named assistant superintendent in 1970 and became the first female deputy superintendent in 1983. She was included in the 1989 Executive Educator 100, an annual list of the nation's top educators.
Faison retired in 1993 and served as a visiting professor in the education department of what is now Chatham University. She became department's chair.
In 1999, Faison became the founding director of the Pittsburgh Teachers Institute, a partnership of Chatham, Carnegie Mellon University and Pittsburgh Public Schools.
She returned to the district in 1999 to serve a year as interim superintendent — becoming the first black leader of Pittsburgh's public school system.
Faison served on the Pitt Board of Trustees, including as an emeritus trustee. She served as a member of the boards of visitors of Pitt's education school and College of General Studies. The school honored her as a Legacy Laureate and with the Pitt African American Alumni Council's Distinguished Alumnus Award. In 1993, Pitt established the Helen S. Faison Scholarship in the School of Education.
Faison delivered the commencement speech at Pitt's graduation in 2005. In 2006, Pitt named the first fully endowed chair in its education program in her honor.
Funeral services will be conducted Monday, Smith said, though details are still being finalized.
Jason Cato is a writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at 412-320-7936 or jcato@tribweb.com.
