Dr. Iris Carlton-LaNey believes it is imperative that students of all races see more African American women in the classroom who hold doctorate degrees.

“We bring a perspective that nobody else can bring,” she said. “We can all provide the content but the experiences that we have in America are unique to us and it’s through that lens that we look at the world and nobody else can provide that.”

In April, Carlton-LaNey was honored by the University of Maryland School of Social Work as one of its 50 Heroes for Justice. She was nominated from a pool of more than 12,000 graduates and selected out of 300 finalists.

“I was told via e-mail and it was a very nice honor,” she said. “I was pleased and excited. It’s nice to know that people recognize your contributions to the profession.”

Carlton-LaNey received her bachelor’s from North Carolina A&T State University in 1972. Since then, she has gone on to earn a master’s from the University of Chicago and her doctorate from the University of Maryland. In addition to furthering her education and encouraging more African American women to earn their Ph.D., Carlton-LaNey has also been committed to mentoring young women.

“I always tell them, ‘If I know it, you can know it’,” she said.
Carlton-LaNey is currently a professor in the School of Social Work at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Early on, she never intended to become an educator. Carlton-LaNey only gave it a second thought after a phone call from then-N.C. A&T sociology and social work department chairman Will Scott.

“He called me and said ‘I think you’d be a good faculty person’ and he asked if I was interested in a position. I told him ‘yes’ and he told me to try it for one semester,” she said. “One semester turned into 30 years.”

Her teaching career brought her back to A&T, then took her to UNC Charlotte and then to her current position at UNC.

Carlton-LaNey credits Scott, Dr. Bob Davis and Jim Johnson for being major influences on her career in education.

“They were good role models for what a teacher should be and how a professor should engage with his or her students. The way I’ve become a professor is the way my professors taught me,” she said. “It’s been a privilege and an honor.”

She also credits her sister, former A&T English professor and Guilford County School Board member Dr. Sandra Alexander, for her drive to be a stellar educator.

“My sister has always been my role model,” she said.
In fact, Carlton-LaNey followed the footsteps of her sister and older brother to A&T and a younger brother followed hers.
“A&T is the family school,” she said.

In addition to being honored by the University of Maryland this year, last year, Carlton-LaNey received the inaugural Legacy Award from Sisters of the Academy, an organization dedicated to   facilitate the success of Black women in the Academy.

She was also selected as the 2011 Feminist Scholar Honoree for the Council on Social Work Education-Council on the Role and Status of Women in Social Work Education. The group awarded a scholarship awarded in her name.