Brian D. Morris took a gamble when he led the city school board in the hiring of Andr?s Alonso.
Not only was the leading candidate for school system chief executive an outsider from New York, he wasn't African-American, as parents, teachers and administrators were expecting.
And Alonso was demanding unprecedented authority from a board that had a history of micro-managing.
But Morris, the volunteer school board chairman and a young developer, pushed the board to make the hire, and then protected Alonso when the going got rough.
"It was not easy for the board to hire a non-African American and an outsider, but it was always to Brian, and to the board, a matter of the best person regardless," said former board member Kalman "Buzzy" Hettleman. "Brian was very strong in his belief on that."
The relationship between Morris and Alonso attracted renewed attention this week when Morris was appointed to a $175,000 deputy superintendent position hours after resigning from the board he was to leave later this summer because of term limits. He will report directly to Alonso.
The working relationship they forged over the past two years has not always been appreciated by some educators.
"Morris rubber-stamps everything that Dr. Alonso wants done. It is ridiculous," said Jimmy Gittings, the president of the union that represents school principals and administrators.
Gittings said he was "appalled" by the appointment. "He is the reason Dr. Alonso is doing whatever he wants," Gittings said.
Others describe Morris as an honest, hardworking and strong leader known for keeping his word - and said he would be an asset in his new position.
School board member Anirban Basu called Morris a good communicator who can relate to business leaders, politicians and members of the public alike.
"He is incredibly articulate. He addresses many of the senior leadership shortcomings," said Basu. "Brian adds significantly to the system's capacity to tell its story."
Morris' supporters describe him as charismatic, stylish and extroverted, and say he has an encyclopedic knowledge of school system details.
They say he can recall the square footage of certain buildings or the details of an educational program without looking them up.
A graduate of Baltimore City College and the University of Maryland, Morris, 38, started his career as an investment executive at Provident Bank in 1992 and went on to work at Merrill Lynch and Legg Mason.
