Officials say Chicago School Board President killed himself

The death of Chicago School Board President Michael Scott has been ruled a suicide by the medical examiner, but the police are still investigating, according to news reports.

Police officers discoverd Scott's body on a downtown river embankment after his family reported him missing, according to the Associated Press. The Cook County Medical Examiner's office determined that Scott, 60, shot himself in the head, but some who knew the school chief expressed doubt that he would take his own life.

In Washington, President Obama's Education Secretary Arne Duncan, the former CEO of the Chicago Public Schools, issued a statement that he was "shocked and saddened" by the sudden death of his "friend and colleague."

"Michael cared passionately about public education and made many courageous decisions as President of the Board," Duncan said. "He gave his time, energy and talents to improving the life chances of children. Chicago has lost a great leader and the city's schoolchildren have lost a devoted champion. I extend my deepest condolences to his wife and family."

Scott graduated from Fordham University with a bachelor's degree in urban planning and returned to Chicago where he helped to establish the Community Bank of Lawndale. Appointed by Chicago Mayor Jane Byrne to the city's Board of Education in 1980, Scott was involved in developing support for a student desegregation plan.

Mayor Harold Washington appointed Scott as the Director of the Chicago Department of Special Events and Special Assistant to the Mayor in charge of Communications and Mayor Eugene Sawyer appointed Scott as Director of the Mayor's Office of Special Events.

In the private sector, Scott served as the General Manager for Prime Cable, the Vice President of Local Government Affairs for AT&T Broadband, and Vice President of Regulatory Affairs for the Comcast Corporation. In 2001, he formed and became President of Michael Scott & Associates, LLC., a real estate development and investment firm

Scott served his second term on the Chicago Board of Education from 2001 until 2006 when Chicago Public Schools "achieved all-time high scores on academic tests and organized aggressive back-to-school campaigns that resulted in some of the highest first-day attendance rates in the district's history," according to Scott's official bio on the city's Board of Education web site. In February, 2009, he was appointed by Mayor Daley to his third term on the Board of Education.