Kurt Schmoke

Kurt Lidell Schmoke (born December 1, 1949) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 47th mayor of Baltimore, Maryland, from 1987 to 1999, the first African American to be elected to the post. He is a former dean of the Howard University School of Law and, on July 7, 2014, he was appointed as president of the University of Baltimore. Early years Schmoke was born and raised in Baltimore to Murray Schmoke, a civilian chemist for the US Army, and Irene B. Reid, a social worker. He attended the public schools of Baltimore. High school Schmoke attended the Baltimore City College, the third oldest high school in the United States, and graduated in 1967. Schmoke excelled in both football and lacrosse and he was a star quarterback. As the varsity quarterback, he led the City Knights to two undefeated seasons and successive Maryland Scholastic Association A-conference championships in 1965 and 1966. As a student, Schmoke was a member of the Baltimore City College "A-course", a college preparatory curriculum that required him to take Latin and other advanced studies not offered to the average Baltimore high school student. Schmoke was elected president of the school's student government in his senior year but also worked in the Baltimore community with disadvantaged youth. Compulsory community service had not yet been mandated for Baltimore high school students, yet he tutored and mentored young men from the inner city as a member of the Lancers Boys Club.