GSE Faculty Member Robert B. Schwartz to Head National Education Reform Center

The nation's governors and business executives have tapped Harvard Graduate School of Education Lecturer Robert B. Schwartz to head the organization created to help implement the commitments made at the 1996 Education Summit.

At the summit, 41 governors and 48 business leaders from across the country agreed to speed improvement and accountability in the nation's education system. Specifically, they agreed to develop academic standards and assessments in every state and to expand the use of information technology as a way to improve student performance and aid in the measurement of student achievement. In addition, business leaders committed to change their hiring practices so that a potential employee's academic transcript is considered in the hiring decision, and to give high priority to the quality of a state's standards when locating or expanding their businesses. The participants agreed at that time to establish an independent, nongovernmental body to measure and report annually on the progress being made to achieve these commitments.

Achieve, the independent non-profit organization formed to follow-up the Summit, is a permanent resource center supporting high academic standards and accountability in education. It is cochaired by Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson and IBM Chairman and CEO Louis V. Gerstner. Schwartz will serve as Achieve's first president and continue to serve as a lecturer and to teach courses at HGSE.

"We are delighted to be able to attract to Achieve someone of Bob Schwartz's depth and experience and passionate commitment to educational excellence," said Thompson. "Clearly the board has found an exemplary leader with the credentials and the fire to bring about real change."

"We were looking for an individual with a very specific set of skills and experiences," said Gerstner. "Bob's 35-year track record in school reform, coupled with his work as a teacher, public policy advisor and foundation director will serve him well for this assignment."

Schwartz joined the HGSE faculty in September 1996 and teaches courses in educational policy and administration. He began his career as a high school English teacher and principal and has served as an education advisor to the Mayor of Boston and the Governor of Massachusetts, as well as an assistant director of the National Institute of Education. Schwartz was the first director of the Boston Compact, a public-private partnership formed to improve access to higher education and employment for urban high school graduates. From 1990-1996, he directed the education grant-making program of the Pew Charitable Trusts, one of the nation's largest philanthropies.

The Achieve board of directors includes Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson; Colorado Governor Roy Romer; Ohio Governor George V. Voinovich; Michigan Governor John Engler; Nevada Governor Bob Miller and North Carolina Governor James B Hunt, Jr.; Louis V. Gerstner, chairman and CEO, IBM; Robert E. Allen chairman and CEO, AT&T; John L. Clendenin, chairman and CEO, BellSouth Corporation; George M.C. Fisher, chairman and CEO, Eastman Kodak Company; John E. Pepper, chairman and CEO, The Procter and Gamble Company; and Frank Shrontz, chairman emeritus, The Boeing Company.