Sheila Dixon

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Sheila Dixon
48^th Mayor of Baltimore
In office January 17, 2007 – Present
Preceded by	Martin O'Malley
Succeeded by	Incumbent

Born	December 27, 1953 Baltimore, Maryland
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Thomas E. Hampton, married 1988; divorced 2006
Religion	AME

Sheila Dixon is the 48^th Mayor of Baltimore, Maryland. When former Mayor Martin O'Malley was sworn in as Governor on January 17, 2007, she became mayor and will serve out the remaining year of his term. She is the first woman ever to serve as mayor of Baltimore.

1 Biography
2 2007 election
3 References
4 External Links

[edit] Biography

Sheila Dixon was born on December 27, 1953, and was raised in the Ashburton neighborhood of West Baltimore. Her father, Phillip Dixon, Sr. was a successful car salesman, and her mother, Winona Dixon, was a community activist, active in her church, political causes, and member of numerous local community groups.

Dixon is a lifelong city resident. She is a graduate of the Baltimore City public school system and holds a bachelor's degree from Towson University and a master's degree from Johns Hopkins University. She is a former elementary school teacher and adult education instructor with the Head Start program. She worked for 17 years as an international trade specialist with the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development. In 1986 She was elected to the Baltimore City State Central Committee representing the 40th Legislative District. In 1987, she won a seat on the Baltimore City Council representing the 4th Council District, where she served for 12 years. She became the city council president in 1999, the first African-American woman ever elected to this position.

Sheila has been named one of Baltimore's Most Influential Leaders by the Baltimore Business Journal and was recently admitted to The Daily Record's Circle of Excellence for her third selection as one of "Maryland's Top 100 Women." An active member of Bethel A.M.E. Church and former trustee, President Dixon continues to serve as a member of the Stewardess Board. She serves on other boards, including the Institute of Human Virology, the Transplant Resource Center, the Urban Health Initiative, the Baltimore Public Markets Corporation, the Living Classrooms Foundation, and the Walters Art Gallery.

She was married in 1988 to Thomas E. Hampton, and had two children, Jasmine and Joshua. In 2006, Dixon filed for divorce from Hampton.^[1] She is the aunt of professional basketball player Juan Dixon.

At the time of her inauguration as mayor, only one U.S. city larger than Baltimore had a female mayor (Dallas, Texas). She is currently the only African American female mayor in the United States in a city with a population greater than 600,000.

The Mayor has recently launched a "Free Baltimore of Litter" campaign, and is looking for a new slogan for a city still facing numerous problems, including one of the highest murder rates in the country. In a recent Baltimore Magazine article on page 64 of the March 2007 issue, by using the transcript of her speech, a computer application ADVANCED TEXT ANALYSER, which is utilized by a number of federal agencies, determined that the word crime was not used once during her inauguration address.