Chester E. Finn, Jr.: an Advocate for Educational Reform

An in-depth analysis of Mr. Finn’s achievements consists of him as a scholar, educator, and public servant. He currently serves as a Fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution and is president of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation also president of its board of trustees. Nevertheless, he has been a professor of Education and Public Policy at Vanderbilt University since 1981. He is a founding partner as well as senior partner in the Edison Project. Furthermore, he has been a former Assistant U.S. Secretary of Education as well as a Research and Improvement Counselor to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education. Incidentally, he has been a Staff Assistant to Ronald Reagan, Junior Advisor to Richard Nixon, also Special Assistant to the Governor of Massachusetts but also a former legislative director for Senator Daniel Moynihan, as well as, Counsel to the American Ambassador to India. In any case, he was a Research Associate in Governmental Studies at the Brooking Institution, but also a John M. Olin Fellow at the Manhattan Institute and at the Hudson Institute. Still, he serves on a quite a few boards that are concerned with elementary and middle grades schooling, such as, the Center for Education Reform, the Foundation for Teaching Economics, the Colorado League of Charter Schools, the Center of the American Experiment, K12, Project Achieve, Parents Raising Educational Standards in Schools, the National Council on Teacher Quality, The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, the Philanthropy Roundtable, and Keys to Improving Dayton’s Schools, Inc. The Thomas B. Fordham Institute (2003-2006).
    Dr. Finn graduated from Harvard University with an under graduate degree in American History, a Master’s Degree in Social Studies and a Doctorate Degree in education on Policy and Administration. He also holds an honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from Colgate University. On the other hand, he is a Philanthropist who has produced a huge amount of high quality research...