Vincent Reed
Vincent E. Reed (March 1, 1928 – October 17, 2017) was an American educator who led the District of Columbia Public Schools and later worked in the Reagan administration. Born in St. Louis as one of 17 children, he played football and boxed, becoming a Golden Gloves champion, and he served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. He earned a physical education degree from West Virginia State College in 1952 and a master's in educational administration from Howard University in 1965.
Reed started as a shop teacher for DC Public Schools, then became an administrator. In 1968 he became the first African American principal of Woodrow Wilson High School. He was later promoted to assistant superintendent and then superintendent in 1975. Under his leadership, test scores rose and he became one of the city’s most popular superintendents. He left in 1980 after disagreements with the school board.
From 1981 to 1982 he served as assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education under President Ronald Reagan. After leaving government, he spent 16 years as vice president for communications at the Washington Post, retiring in 1998.
Reed died in 2017 in Washington, at age 89. In 2022, Woodrow Wilson High School was renamed Jackson-Reed High School to honor him and Edna Burke Jackson, the school’s first Black teacher.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 19:13 (CET).