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Booker T. Washington 1856–1915EducationEducator and founder of Tuskegee Institute who advocated for vocational training for African Americans.
John Dewey 1859–1952EducationPhilosopher and educational reformer whose progressive ideas shaped modern American pedagogy.
Noah Webster 1758–1843EducationLexicographer whose spellers and American dictionary standardized United States spelling and schoolroom instruction.
Horace Mann 1796–1859EducationReformist who championed public education and is considered the father of the American public school system.
Mary McLeod Bethune 1875–1955EducationEducator and civil rights leader who founded Bethune-Cookman University and advised four presidents.
Anne Sullivan 1866–1936EducationTeacher who famously educated Helen Keller, breaking through her isolation from deafness and blindness.
Charles W. Eliot 1834–1926EducationRebuilt Harvard into the first modern American research university and gave undergraduates the elective system.
Mary Lyon 1797–1849EducationFounder of Mount Holyoke, the first endowed college for American women
James Bryant Conant 1893–1978EducationPresident of Harvard, chairman of the wartime NDRC, and champion of the SAT
Robert Maynard Hutchins 1899–1977EducationRan the University of Chicago at 30 and rebuilt it around the great books.
Robert Parris Moses 1935–2021EducationCivil rights leader and math educator who founded the Algebra Project to empower poor students.
Daniel Coit Gilman 1831–1908EducationFounding president of Johns Hopkins University
Clark Kerr 1911–2003EducationArchitect of California's 1960 Master Plan for Higher Education
Sal Khan b. 1976EducationFounder of Khan Academy, whose free online lessons have reached hundreds of millions of learners globally.
Frank McCourt 1930–2009EducationPulitzer Prize-winning memoirist and New York City teacher whose Angela's Ashes became a global bestseller.
Jaime Escalante 1930–2010EducationMath teacher who inspired underprivileged students in East Los Angeles to excel in advanced calculus.
Emma Willard 1787–1870EducationWomen's education reformer who founded the Troy Female Seminary, a model for women's higher education.
Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet 1787–1851EducationFounded the first permanent American school for deaf students.
Howard Gardner b. 1943EducationDevelopmental psychologist whose theory of multiple intelligences transformed educational philosophy.
Catharine Beecher 1800–1878EducationPioneer in women's education who founded schools and advocated for female teachers across America.
Wendy Kopp b. 1967EducationFounder of Teach for America, which places college graduates as teachers in underserved schools.
Diane Ravitch b. 1938EducationHistorian of education and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education who shaped national education policy debates.
Geoffrey Canada b. 1952EducationSocial activist who founded the Harlem Children's Zone, a model for comprehensive community-based education.
Jonathan Kozol b. 1936EducationWriter and activist whose books exposed the stark inequalities in American public schooling.
Michelle Rhee b. 1969EducationFormer chancellor of D.C. public schools who became a polarizing figure in education reform debates.
Marva Collins 1936–2015EducationEducator who founded Westside Preparatory School and proved that disadvantaged students could achieve excellence.
E. D. Hirsch Jr. b. 1928EducationLiterary scholar whose Core Knowledge curriculum emphasized cultural literacy and shared knowledge.John Holt 1923–1985EducationTeacher and author whose How Children Fail and How Children Learn inspired the homeschooling movement.
Linda Darling-Hammond b. 1951EducationEducation researcher and Stanford professor who shaped teacher preparation and assessment policy.
Lucy Sprague Mitchell 1878–1967EducationProgressive educator who founded Bank Street College and revolutionized early childhood education.
Deborah Meier b. 1931EducationPioneer of small-school reform who founded Central Park East and won a MacArthur Genius Grant.Ted Sizer 1932–2009EducationEducational reformer whose Coalition of Essential Schools reshaped American secondary education.