Patricia Albjerg Graham

Charles Warren Professor of the History of American Education, Emerita

Profile

Patricia Albjerg Graham is a leading historian of American education. She began her teaching career in Deep Creek, Virginia, and later taught in Norfolk, Virginia, and New York City. She has also served as a high-school guidance counselor. From 1965 to 1974, while director of Barnard College's Education Program, she worked closely with teachers and administrators in New York City to assist beginning teachers in their schools. She has been a lecturer and assistant professor at Indiana University, a visiting professor at Northern Michigan University, and a professor of history and education at Teachers College, Columbia University. In 1972-73 she was awarded a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship. She has served as dean of the Radcliffe Institute and as vice president of Radcliffe College. She joined the HGSE faculty in 1974 and served as dean from 1982 to 1991. She was also appointed by the President of the United States as the director of the National Institute of Education, then the federal government's educational research agency, where she served from 1977 to 1979. She served as president of the Spencer Foundation in Chicago from 1991 to 2000. Graham holds a bachelor's degree with highest distinction from Purdue University and a Ph.D. from Columbia University, and she has received several honorary degrees. She is married to Loren R. Graham, and they have a daughter, Marguerite.