Biography
Dr. Donald Presswood hails from Chicago, Illinois, and has dedicated his life to service, first through military leadership and later through education.
Dr. Presswood is a retired U.S. Army Infantry Officer with a secondary specialty as a Foreign Area Officer for Central and South America and the Caribbean. From 1980 to 1995, he served as both an Infantry and Foreign Area Officer, working, living, and traveling across Latin America. During his military service, he worked and traveled extensively in Latin America, including Panama, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and Belize. He and his family have traveled extensively throughout the Caribbean and Europe, including Mexico, Spain, Cuba, and numerous other countries, adding to the diverse international experiences that shaped their worldviews. These experiences strengthened his understanding of language, culture, and international affairs while shaping his leadership in diverse and complex settings. He retired from the U.S. Army on 1 July 1995.
After his military service, Dr. Presswood transitioned into public education through the Troops to Teachers Program. He began his second career as a special education teacher in San Antonio, Texas, then went on to serve as an assistant principal in Austin, Texas. He later held school administrator positions in Washington, DC, Baltimore City, and Prince George’s County, Maryland. In his final role, he served as a middle school English Language Development (ELD/ESOL) Administrator, supporting multilingual learners and their families. He retired from Maryland’s public school system on 1 July 2025.
Dr. Presswood also contributed to humanitarian and civil assistance efforts, including serving with the Headquarters, 5th Army Inspector General Team during the 1993 Fuertes Caminos Exercise in Panama, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and Belize as part of Task Force Jaguar and Task Force Rushmore.
His lifelong commitment to cross-cultural understanding began in 1978 as a summer exchange student in Ecatepec, Mexico, through The Experiment in International Living. That early experience set the course for a career centered on international engagement, service, and education.
Dr. Presswood holds a B.A. in Spanish from DePaul University and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant through the U.S. Army ROTC Program (1980). He later completed intensive Spanish studies at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California (1988), earned an M.A. in Latin American Studies (1991), and received a Ph.D. in Special Education Administration (1998) from The University of Texas at Austin.
Dr. Presswood is married to Dr. Tania Thomas-Presswood, a highly respected professor and psychology program director at Gallaudet University. Their daughter, Brielle, is a junior in college pursuing studies in psychology and film.