Asa Grant Hilliard III was born on August 22, 1933 in Galveston, Texas, United States. Hilliard's grandfather, was a high school principal in Bay City, Texas, for whom the former Hilliard High School was named. His father, Asa Grant Hilliard II, was also a high school principal, who spent most of his teaching career in Tyler, Texas.
Asa received B.A. at University of Denver in 1955, M.A. in 1961, and Ed.D. in 1963.
Asa was the Fuller E. Callaway Professor of Urban Education at Georgia State University, with joint appointments in the Department of Educational Policy Studies and the Department of Educational Psychology and Special Education. Prior to his position at Georgia State, Hilliard served as the Dean of the School of Education at San Francisco State University in San Francisco, California.
Asa believed that all children were capable of achieving excellence. The keys to achievement were high expectations, well-trained teachers, and the abandonment of standardized testing.
Hilliard was married to Patsy Jo Hilliard, the first African American and female mayor of the City of East Point, Georgia, with whom he had four children (Asa IV, Robi, Patricia and Hakim) and eight grandchildren.
