Woodrow Wilson News & Publications

FOR RELEASE:   December 14, 2005
CONTACT:           Beverly Sanford, (609) 452-7007 x181

  Download as a printer-friendly PDF

NOTED EDUCATION LEADER
NAMED PRESIDENT OF WOODROW WILSON FOUNDATION

PRINCETON, NJ—Arthur E. Levine, president of Teachers College, Columbia University and a nationally noted advocate for educational equity and education reform, has been named the sixth president of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation.

“Arthur Levine is an extraordinary leader, a remarkably successful educational innovator, and a bold, thought-provoking scholar,” said Nancy Weiss Malkiel, chair of the Woodrow Wilson Board of Trustees. “He believes, as we do, that education is the vehicle for changing the world. His passion and expertise are just the right match for our work in secondary school-university partnerships, and, in particular, our new commitment to finding effective ways to recruit, prepare, and support exceptional arts and science undergraduates for careers as secondary school teachers and catalysts for change in urban public schools. We could not have found a better leader to help us address the most pressing problems of education in the 21st century.”

Dr. Levine, who has been president of Teachers College since 1994, announced in September 2005 that he would step down from that post in 2006. A nationally known advocate for access to excellence in education, as well as improved preparation of teachers and principals, he is credited with major growth at Teachers College. During his 12 years there, he reorganized the academic departments; strengthened and expanded the faculty; enhanced the prestige and visibility of the board of trustees; significantly upgraded the physical infrastructure; led a capital campaign that raised more than $155 million; and charted a new mission for the college, focused on educational equity.

“The Woodrow Wilson Foundation has been an extraordinary force in American education, and I am honored and humbled to assume its presidency,” Dr. Levine said. “I can think of no better pulpit from which to continue the fight for educational equity in America, both in our public schools and in higher education, and to improve the way that schools of education prepare teachers, school leaders, researchers and policymakers.”

Woodrow Wilson has 60 years of experience in fostering leadership and innovation in education at all levels. The Foundation is widely known in the academy for awarding distinguished graduate Fellowships, championing liberal arts education, and promoting leadership opportunities for individuals from underrepresented groups. In recent years, Woodrow Wilson has directed increasing attention to fostering improvements in K–12 education. The Foundation links public secondary schools, particularly those serving large low-income populations, with nearby colleges and universities, and promotes new models of teacher preparation.

Prior to his 1994 appointment at Teachers College, Dr. Levine chaired the Higher Education Program and the Institute for Educational Management at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education. He also served previously as president of Bradford College and as a senior fellow at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. He is the author or editor of more than a dozen books and reports and numerous articles on opportunity in higher education and school leadership. (Click here for additional biographical information.)

Dr. Levine’s appointment at Woodrow Wilson follows the departure of Robert Weisbuch in July 2005 to become president of Drew University. Dr. Levine will formally join Woodrow Wilson in the summer of 2006.

For more information visit www.woodrow.org or contact Beverly Sanford at (609) 452-7007, ext. 181, or sanford@woodrow.org.

# # #

Begun in 1945 as a program of doctoral fellowships to meet the nation’s need for talented college teachers, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation has supported more than 21,000 intellectual leaders in fields from arts and sciences to business to public service. Over the past two decades, the Foundation has joined its legacy of excellence with its commitment to meet changing national needs at all levels of education—from promoting diversity in the academy and in selected, high-impact professions to building linkages between colleges and universities and public K–12 schools that will improve the quality of education.

Top   |   Archive   |   WW News & Publications   |   Home