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Education
30 people
Catharine Beecher 1800–1878Ideas & MediaPioneer in women's education who founded schools and advocated for female teachers across America.Mary McLeod Bethune 1875–1955Ideas & MediaEducator and civil rights leader who founded Bethune-Cookman University and advised four presidents.Geoffrey Canada b. 1952Ideas & MediaSocial activist who founded the Harlem Children's Zone, a model for comprehensive community-based education.Marva Collins 1936–2015Ideas & MediaEducator who founded Westside Preparatory School and proved that disadvantaged students could achieve excellence.Linda Darling-Hammond b. 1951Ideas & MediaEducation researcher and Stanford professor who shaped teacher preparation and assessment policy.John Dewey 1859–1952Ideas & MediaPhilosopher and educational reformer whose progressive ideas shaped modern American pedagogy.Angela Duckworth b. 1970Ideas & MediaPsychologist whose research on grit reshaped conversations about success and character education.Carol Dweck b. 1946Ideas & MediaStanford psychologist whose growth mindset research transformed how educators approach student potential.Jaime Escalante 1930–2010Ideas & MediaMath teacher who inspired underprivileged students in East Los Angeles to excel in advanced calculus.Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet 1787–1851Ideas & MediaFounded the first permanent American school for deaf students.Howard Gardner b. 1943Ideas & MediaDevelopmental psychologist whose theory of multiple intelligences transformed educational philosophy.E. D. Hirsch Jr. b. 1928Ideas & MediaLiterary scholar whose Core Knowledge curriculum emphasized cultural literacy and shared knowledge.John Holt 1923–1985Ideas & MediaTeacher and author whose How Children Fail and How Children Learn inspired the homeschooling movement.Sal Khan b. 1976Ideas & MediaFounder of Khan Academy, whose free online lessons have reached hundreds of millions of learners globally.Wendy Kopp b. 1967Ideas & MediaFounder of Teach for America, which places college graduates as teachers in underserved schools.Jonathan Kozol b. 1936Ideas & MediaWriter and activist whose books exposed the stark inequalities in American public schooling.Horace Mann 1796–1859Ideas & MediaReformist who championed public education and is considered the father of the American public school system.Frank McCourt 1930–2009Ideas & MediaPulitzer Prize-winning memoirist and New York City teacher whose Angela's Ashes became a global bestseller.Deborah Meier b. 1931Ideas & MediaPioneer of small-school reform who founded Central Park East and won a MacArthur Genius Grant.Lucy Sprague Mitchell 1878–1967Ideas & MediaProgressive educator who founded Bank Street College and revolutionized early childhood education.Robert Parris Moses 1935–2021Ideas & MediaCivil rights leader and math educator who founded the Algebra Project to empower poor students.Diane Ravitch b. 1938Ideas & MediaHistorian of education and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education who shaped national education policy debates.Michelle Rhee b. 1969Ideas & MediaFormer chancellor of D.C. public schools who became a polarizing figure in education reform debates.Ted Sizer 1932–2009Ideas & MediaEducational reformer whose Coalition of Essential Schools reshaped American secondary education.Benjamin Spock 1903–1998Ideas & MediaPediatrician whose 1946 baby-care manual reshaped postwar American child-rearing advice.Anne Sullivan 1866–1936Ideas & MediaTeacher who famously educated Helen Keller, breaking through her isolation from deafness and blindness.Booker T. Washington 1856–1915Ideas & MediaEducator and founder of Tuskegee Institute who advocated for vocational training for African Americans.Noah Webster 1758–1843Ideas & MediaLexicographer whose spellers and American dictionary standardized United States spelling and schoolroom instruction.Emma Willard 1787–1870Ideas & MediaWomen's education reformer who founded the Troy Female Seminary, a model for women's higher education.Howard Zinn 1922–2010Ideas & MediaHistorian and Boston University professor whose A People's History of the United States reshaped historical narratives.