Teresa Powell

Teresa Powell, 1967 scholar from Florida, has lived in Illinois since she transferred to the University of Chicago in 1969. A mother of four, she earned a BA (music), MST (elementary education), as well as an MBA and MPH. She has served in education, government, non-profit management and corporation positions. During her years at home with her children she led a state and a national organization working for passage of the Equal Rights Amendment and greater involvement of women in government. In 2009 she was elected the Village Clerk of Oak Park, Illinois, where she helped to launch the Coalition to End Homelessness and worked on coalition building across local government boards. She was one of the longitudinal study participants of Felice Kaufman of the first five years of Presidential Scholars, but was otherwise out of touch until an email about the 50th Anniversary celebration. Although she could not attend that event she volunteered to help with the 55th anniversary. During the pandemic she participated in USPS meetups where she got to know scholars from across the decades. In retirement she has advocated for a “medical aid in dying” bill which was signed into law in 2025.