Conant, James B. 1893-1978

PRESIDENT OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY, U.S. HIGH COMMISSIONER TO WEST GERMANY, AMBASSADOR TO WEST GERMANY

A Spokesman for Education in the 1950s.

After leaving the presidency of Harvard in 1953, Conant became the U.S. High Commissioner and later ambassador to West Germany. In this country, however, he remained a strong voice for educational innovation during the 1950s, and his 1959 volume, The American High School Today, argues for much higher standards in American education. His call for comprehensive high schools that would meet all students' needs, regardless of their abilities and goals, was particularly important in the 1960s when attempts were made to eliminate educational inequities, especially in segregated school districts.

Assessing All Segments of the American Educational System.

During the 1960s Conant researched and wrote about all aspects of the American educational system. Slums and the...

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