Last Look

James Bryant Conant, president of Harvard from 1933 to 1953, introduced a number of innovations to the University, including aptitude tests that admitted students based on their intellectual promise rather than their social connections, and National Scholarships that eliminated financial barriers for a small number of prospective students. Many American colleges followed Conant's lead, and this campaign led eventually to the adoption of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT).

Following his university presidency, Conant went on to prepare a number of reports on the dilemmas of secondary education. Later studies by Conant identified the growth in black dropout rates as a recipe for "social dynamite" and advocated overhauling the teacher certification process.