Alvin Thornton is the chair of Howard University

Howard University

Howard University is a federally chartered, non-profit, private, coeducational, nonsectarian, historically black university located in Washington, D.C., United States...

's political science department and has also been associate provost

Provost (education)

A provost is the senior academic administrator at many institutions of higher education in the United States, Canada and Australia, the equivalent of a pro-vice-chancellor at some institutions in the United Kingdom and Ireland....

. He is a proponent of universal opportunity to conquer class discrepancy.

In 1999, he was chairman of the Maryland General Assembly

Maryland General Assembly

The Maryland General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is a bicameral body. The upper chamber, the Maryland State Senate, has 47 representatives and the lower chamber, the Maryland House of Delegates, has 141 representatives...

's Commission on Education Finance, Equity, and Excellence, popularly known as the Thornton Commission. Its goal was to find ways for the Maryland public education

Public education

State schools, also known in the United States and Canada as public schools,In much of the Commonwealth, including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom, the terms 'public education', 'public school' and 'independent school' are used for private schools, that is, schools...

system to ensure equity in education, that is, to provide quality education not limited by family income, jurisdiction, or property values.http://www.countyvibe.com/ThorntonAlvin.htm