Ernest Boyer's guest appearances

Ernest Boyer

Westminster Town Hall Forum

Social Justice

Educators

Change Agents

Elie Wiesel

Nicholas Kristof

Marian Wright Edelman

Rachel Simmons

Cory Booker

Ben Carson

Barbara Brown Taylor

David Brooks

Michael Lerner

Joan Chittister

Bryan Stevenson

Dan Buettner

Salman Rushdie

Anna Lappe

Rick Steves

OwlTail

Ernest Boyer is the president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. He is the former U.S. Commissioner of Education and a former Chancellor of the State University of New York. He is the author of two books, High School and College: The Undergraduate Experience. He is currently working on a policy study on education in children's early years.

Ernest Boyer - Education - A New Look For The Nineties - 11/14/91

Ernest L. Boyer (September 13, 1928 – December 8, 1995) was the President of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the former United States Commissioner of Education, who was considered to be the most influential person in American education.  His grandfather inspired him in his childhood; William Boyer (the head of the Mission of the Brethren in Christ Church in his hometown of Dayton, Ohio) directed him toward a "people-centered life." Boyer attended Messiah College and later earned his master's and doctorate at the University of Southern California. In 1965, he joined the State University of New York system, and, five years later became its Chancellor. The 64-campus university was the largest in the United States with over 350,000 students. In 1977, President Carter appointed him the U.S. Commissioner of Education. He then became President of the Carnegie Foundation and began an initiative to bring more attention to education at every level with a concentration on the earliest years of a child's education. In 1983, Dr. Boyer's report "High School: A Report on Secondary Education" had an impact even before it was published. When officials at the U.S. Department of Education learned that Dr. Boyer was working on a report describing the inadequacies of secondary public education and proposing a series of changes, they decided to start their own study, which came to be called "A Nation at Risk." "A Nation at Risk" was described as a national wake-up call, spelling out the failure of the public high schools to provide students with basic knowledge and skills. Dr. Boyer also felt that education improvements were bypassing too many impoverished children, with consequences for the future of America. He advocated programs in nutrition, prenatal care for teenage mothers, and more day care with summer classes and preschool education. In 1987, when Dr. Boyer detected that one of the major ills of higher education was that research was elbowing aside teaching, he wrote the report, "College: The Undergraduate Experience in America," in which he argued that "at every university, teaching should be valued as highly as research." The book stimulated the college movement that holds much research is pointless and even harmful insofar as it distracts teachers from students. Dr. Boyer was the recipient of numerous awards, including more than 140 honorary degrees. Ernest Boyer participated in the 1986 Achievement Summit in Washington, D.C. and spoke to the student delegates about the importance of remembering and thanking their hometown teachers, unsung heroes, who helped influence their lives.

As President of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and as United States Commissioner of Education, Ernest L. Boyer (1928 - 1995) was regarded as the most influential person in American education. His grandfather William Boyer -- head of the Mission of the Brethren in Christ Church in his Dayton Ohio -- first directed Ernest towards a people-centered life. Boyer attended Messiah College and later earned his master's and doctorate at the University of  Southern California. In 1965 he joined the State University of New York system and five years later became its Chancellor. The 64-campus university was the largest in the United States with over 350,000 students. In 1977, President Carter named Boyer the U.S. Commissioner of Education. He later became President of the Carnegie Foundation and began an initiative to bring more attention to education at every level, with a concentration on the earliest years of a child's education. In 1983. Dr. Boyer's report, "High School. A Report on Secondary Education," had an impact even before it was published. When officials at the U.S. Department of Education learned that Dr. Boyer was working on a report describing the inadequacies of secondary public education and proposing a series of changes. they decided to start their own study, which came to be called A Nation at Risk. This report was described as a national wake-up call, spelling out the failure of public high schools to provide students with basic knowledge and skills. Dr. Boyer held that education improvements were bypassing too many impoverished children, with dire consequences for the future of America. He advocated programs in nutrition, prenatal care for teenage mothers and daycare for their children, along with extended summer classes and preschool education. In 1987, when Dr. Boyer detected that one of the major ills of higher education was that research was elbowing aside teaching, he wrote the report "College: The Undergraduate Experience in America," in which he argued that at every university teaching should be valued as highly as research. The book advanced the view that much research is pointless and even harmful insofar as it distracts teachers from students. Dr. Boyer was the recipient of numerous awards including more than 140 honorary degrees. In this audio podcast, recorded during the Academy of Achievement's 1984 Summit in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Dr. Boyer describes the elements that make  a great teacher, and addresses the importance of teachers in our society.