Linda Redfield Shakoor, PhD

A humanitarian and educator of four decades, Linda Redfield Shakoor, PhD helped establish, teach, and achieve accreditation for the private K-12 school World Life Institute Education Center. As the program director since 1997, she has been involved in spearheading the Project Life War Orphans Rehabilitation Program, in which she has accompanied a team of volunteers to travel, select and host orphans of war from overseas to their Waterport location for three months of rehabilitation from 1997 to 2014. In addition to her primary vocation, Dr. Redfield Shakoor teaches and is a consultant for World Life Institute’s Global Nuclear Awareness program www.worldlife.institute through which she helps coordinate a curriculum focused on a range of issues, including radioactive contamination, and surviving nuclear war.

Dr. Redfield Shakoor considers the highlight of her career to be her time spent teaching English as a second language and civics to migrant agricultural workers for 40 years in Western New York, along with the honor that the agricultural workers gave to her in 2016. In addition, she has been the recipient of the Orleans Niagara BOCES Employee of the Year Award in 2021, as well as the Faith in Action Award from the Greater Rochester Community of Churches Faith in Action Network and was named Outstanding Citizen of the Year by Orleanshub.co in 2017. In 2013, she was honored as New York State Outstanding Teacher of the Year by the NYACCE New York Association for Community/Continuing Education.

At the start of her professional journey, Dr. Redfield Shakoor earned a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and English for 7-12 high school teaching from Malone University in 1973. She went on to attain a Master of Science in bilingual education from the State University of New York at Albany in 1976 and a Doctor of Philosophy in leadership and policy from Niagara University Graduate School in 2017, with the goal of building a network of academic and interested citizens regarding global nuclear awareness. Today, Dr. Redfield Shakoor maintains professional membership with the Western New York Farmworkers Coalition and the New York State Adult Community and Continuing Education.