Chester E. Finn, Jr.

Chester Evans Finn, Jr.
Born	(1944-08-03) August 3, 1944 Columbus, Ohio, United States
Residence	Chevy Chase, Maryland
Nationality	United States
Education	BA (history), 1965 MA (social studies teaching), 1967 Ed.D. (educational policy), 1970
Alma mater	Harvard University
Board member of	K12 Ohio Community School Association Charter School Leadership Council Philanthropy Roundtable advisory boards of the National Association of Scholars Center of the American Experiment Parents Raising Educational Standards in Schools Centre for Policy Studies National Assessment Governing Board, including two years as its chairman (1988–1996)
Spouse(s)	Renu Virmani, M.D., F.A.C.C., August 3, 1974[1]
Children	Arti, Aloke
Notes
[2]

Chester Evans Finn, Jr., (b. August 3, 1944) is a former professor of education, an educational policy analyst, and a former United States Assistant Secretary of Education. He is currently the president of the nonprofit Thomas B. Fordham Foundation in Washington, D.C. He is also a Fellow of the International Academy of Education, an Adjunct Fellow at the Hudson Institute, and a senior fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution where he chairs the Koret Task Force on K-12 Education.

Finn was Professor of Education and Public Policy at Vanderbilt University (1981–2002). He served as Assistant Secretary for Research and Improvement at the U.S. Department of Education (1985–1988). Earlier positions include Staff Assistant to the President of the United States; Special Assistant to the Governor of Massachusetts (1972–1973); Counsel to the United States Ambassador to India (1973–1974); Research Associate at the Brookings Institution (1974–1977); and Legislative Director for Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (1977–1981).

Memberships

• American Educational Research Association
• Committee for the Free World
• Phi Delta Kappa

Published works

• Finn, Jr., Chester E.; Louann A. Bierlein; Bruno V. Manno (1997). Charter school accountability : findings and prospects. Bloomington, Indiana: Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation. ISBN 0-87367-625-4. Retrieved 2009-05-16. 
• Chester E. Finn, Jr.; Diane Ravitch; Robert T. Fancher, eds. (1984). Against mediocrity : the humanities in America’s high schools. foreword by William Bennett. New York, New York: Holmes & Meier. ISBN 0-8419-0944-X. Retrieved 2009-05-16. 
• Chester E. Finn, Jr.; Diane Ravitch; P. Holley Roberts, eds. (1985). Challenges to the humanities. epilogue by William J. Bennett. New York: Holmes and Meier. ISBN 0-8419-1018-9. Retrieved 2009-05-16. 
• Chester E. Finn, Jr.; Theodor Rebarber, eds. (1992). Education reform in the ’90s. New York: Macmillan Pub. Co. ISBN 0-02-897095-0. Retrieved 2009-05-16. 
• Frederick M. Hess and Chester E. Finn, Jr., ed. (2004). Leaving no child behind? : options for kids in failing schools (1st ed.). New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 1-4039-6588-9. Retrieved 2009-05-16. 
• Abshire, David M.; et al. (1995). Lamar Alexander; Chester E. Finn, Jr., eds. The new promise of American life. Indianapolis, Ind.: Hudson Institute. ISBN 1-55813-053-5. Retrieved 2009-05-16. 
• Frederick M. Hess; Chester E. Finn, Jr. (eds.). No remedy left behind : lessons from a half-decade of NCLB. Washington, D.C.: AEI Press. ISBN 978-0-8447-4255-7. Retrieved 2009-05-16. 
• Berdahl, Robert O.; et al. (1978). David W. Breneman; Chester E. Finn, Jr., eds. Public policy and private higher education. Susan C. Nelson. Washington: Brookings Institution. ISBN 0-8157-1066-6. Retrieved 2009-05-16. 
• Finn, Jr., Chester E. (1977). Education and the Presidency. foreword by Daniel P. Moynihan. Lexington, Massachusetts: Lexington Books. ISBN 0-669-00365-4. Retrieved 2009-05-16. 
• Finn, Jr., Chester E. (2009). Reroute the preschool juggernaut. Stanford, California: Education Next Books. ISBN 978-0-8179-4992-1. Retrieved 2009-05-16. 
• Finn, Jr., Chester E. (1978). Scholars, dollars, and bureaucrats. Washington: Brookings Institution. ISBN 0-8157-2828-X. Retrieved 2009-05-16. 
• Finn, Jr., Chester E. (2008). Troublemaker : a personal history of school reform since Sputnik. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. Retrieved 2009-05-16. 
• Ravitch, Diane; Chester E. Finn, Jr. (1987). What do our 17-year-olds know? : a report on the first national assessment of history and literature. foreword by Lynne V. Cheney (1st ed.). New York: Harper & Row. ISBN 0-06-015849-2. Retrieved 2009-05-16. 
• Vanourek, Gregg; Scott W. Hamilton; Chester E. Finn, Jr. (1996). Is there life after big government? : the potential of civil society. Indianapolis, IN: Hudson Institute. Retrieved 2009-05-16. 
• We Must Take Charge!: Our Schools and Our Future (1991)
• The Educated Child: A Parents Guide From Preschool Through Eighth Grade (1999) (with William Bennett and John T.E. Cribb, Jr.)
• Charter Schools in Action: Renewing Public Education (2001) (with Bruno V. Manno and Gregg Vanourek)
• Leaving No Child Behind?: Options for Kids in Failing Schools (2004) (with Frederick M. Hess)
• Troublemaker: A Personal History of School Reform Since Sputnik (2008)

References

External links

• Thomas B. Fordham Foundation website
• Hoover Institution profile
• Hudson Institute > About Hudson > Chester Finn Hudson Institute biography
• MediaTransparency Profile of Chester Finn
• Review of Chester Finn's Autobiography, Troublemaker: A Personal History of School Reform Since Sputnik