Sign up for Chalkbeat Detroit’s free newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system and Michigan education policy.Iris Taylor, a champion for quality education and healthcare in the Detroit Public Schools Community District, died Thursday at 74.Taylor’s death comes a week after she filed to run for reelection on the school board. Taylor wanted to run one last time to continue the work she’s done over the years and to bring stability to the board, friend and former board member Sherry Gay-Dagnogo told BridgeDetroit. Taylor was treasurer for the DPSCD board, the former nursing director for the City of Detroit, and a longtime nurse and health care administrator for the Detroit Medical Center. DPSCD Superintendent Nikolai Vitti and board President LaTrice McClendon said Taylor was a driving force in the district’s progress.“Her guidance shaped decisions that will benefit generations of Detroit students, and her presence at the board table will be greatly missed,” the joint statement said.McClendon said all members are deeply saddened by the loss.Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield also released a statement, saying the city “lost one of its most dedicated and impactful servant leaders.” “A Detroiter through-and-through her entire life, Dr. Taylor’s 45-year career in the health field undoubtedly helped to improve and to save countless Detroiters’ lives,” she said. “Her impact as a member and past president of the Detroit Public Schools Community District board also cannot be understated. She was a true leader and a steady hand that helped make the great progress being made by the district and by its students possible.” Former Mayor Mike Duggan said in a statement that Detroit has “suffered a great loss.”“She has been my close friend for more than 20 years,” said Duggan, the former president and CEO of DMC. “She made an enormous impact in helping save the Detroit Medical Center, rebuilding the Detroit Public Schools after their return to an elected School Board, and improving the lives of Detroiters in her leadership in the Detroit Health Department.”Taylor took the reins of the first elected DPSCD board in 2017 as president. For years before that, the former Detroit Public Schools board was appointed under state emergency management.When Taylor was sworn in, she said it was the new board’s job to prove it was trustworthy and transparent.DPSCD school board member Iris Taylor, shown here during the June 2019 graduation at Cody High School, passed away a week after she filed to run for reelection.Taylor lost reelection in 2020 but won again in 2022. She also served as board chair of the DPSCD Foundation beginning in 2024 and was integral in the return of Davis Aerospace Technical High School to Detroit City Airport.“Throughout her remarkable career, she brought together leaders across healthcare, education, philanthropy, government, and business because she believed lasting change happens when communities unite around a shared purpose,” the DPSCD Foundation said in an Instagram post honoring Taylor. Gay-Dagnogo, who served on the school board with Taylor until Gay-Dagnogo became the city’s ombudsman last year, was shocked to hear of Taylor’s passing. She last saw her on July 7 at an event hosted by former board member Angelique Peterson Mayberry. Taylor and Gay-Dagnogo both received distinguished alumni awards from Wayne State University in May. “We talked about going out to brunch,” Gay-Dagnogo said. “She was getting ready to go out of town for a gospel music workshop. It’s a little melancholy thinking just how fleeting life can be.” A leader in healthcareA product of Detroit Public Schools, Taylor graduated from Central High School. Taylor later graduated from Wayne State, earning her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing in 1974 and 1978, according to the university. She received her doctorate in 1996. Taylor began her career in 1975 as a head staff nurse at DMC Detroit Receiving Hospital and University Health Center. She was eventually promoted into leadership roles, becoming DMC’s chief nursing officer and senior vice president of patient care in 1999. Taylor was appointed president of Harper Hospital and Hutzel Women’s Hospital before leading Detroit Receiving in 2004. In 2010, she became chief business officer for DMC, but would return as president of Detroit Receiving before her retirement from the medical center in 2015. Ramona Benkert met Taylor in the late 1990s when she was a nurse practitioner at Detroit Receiving Hospital. Benkert, who’s now the dean of the Wayne State College of Nursing, said Taylor was a mentor and a “motivating leader.” “She was the true embodiment of a servant leader,” she said. “It wasn’t about her. It was about improving systems of care, improving healthcare and improving public education in the city. It’s always been about service for Dr. Taylor. It’s hard to find that in a leader to be able to do all those things for the community as well as improve the lives of so many people.” In 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Duggan appointed Taylor as director of nursing for the Detroit Health Department. The position had been vacant since 2019. In her role, Taylor was responsible for being the city’s lead public health nurse, overseeing clinical operations and public outreach. An advocate for health hubs Taylor encouraged DPSCD to open Health Hubs across the district. The hubs have distributed food and resources to families thousands of times and helped reduce chronic absenteeism since opening in 2023, according to the district.Gay-Dagnogo said the hubs project was Taylor’s “baby,” and that she wanted to ensure children in the district receive quality health care. Being prepared and having strategic plans for her goals were Taylor’s strengths on the school board, Gay-Dagnogo said. “How are we going to get from A to B to C? That is something that is often missed in people that have a vision,” she said. “They don’t think through strategically, ‘What are the steps to get there?’” Thirty-four people are running for five open seats on the board for the November election. Taylor was one of three incumbents running to reclaim seats on the DPSCD board in the Nov. 3 election. Last week, two other current board leaders, McClendon, who chairs the board, and vice chair Corletta Vaughn, were disqualified from the ballot. Gay-Dagnogo said she’s glad she got to be in the presence of Taylor’s genius and see her generosity as a servant of Detroit. “I wish that her story of the accomplishments and the impact that she had at DMC and the cohort of nurses that she helped to mentor could have been heightened and shared while she was among us,” she said. “But I am glad that our alma mater honored us both this past May, and we got a chance to celebrate that together. She will sorely be missed.” Micah Walker is a reporter for BridgeDetroit. You can reach her at mwalker@bridgedetroit.com.Hannah Dellinger covers Detroit schools for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at hdellinger@chalkbeat.org.
