May 18, 2004
Speaker Biographies
Lynne V. Cheney is a senior fellow at AEI whose work has long emphasized the importance of knowing American history and teaching it well. As chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities from 1986 to 1993, she published American Memory, a report that warned about the failure of schools to convey knowledge about America's past to the next generation. Among her other publications are Kings of the Hill (1983), a history of the House of Representatives that she wrote with her husband, Vice President Richard Cheney, and Telling the Truth (1995), an analysis of the impact of postmodernism on the study of the humanities. Mrs. Cheney is author of two bestselling history books for children: America: A Patriotic Primer (2002), a book for elementary school children and their families that celebrates the ideas and ideals that are the foundations of our country, and A is for Abigail: An Almanac of Amazing American Women (2003), an alphabet book introducing young readers to the accomplishments of American women. Her third book for children, When Washington Crossed the Delaware: A Wintertime Story for Young Patriots, will be published in Fall 2004.
William Galston is a professor at the School of Public Affairs at the University of Maryland and the director of the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy. He was the deputy assistant to the president for domestic policy during the first Clinton administration and executive director of the National Commission on Civic Renewal, which was chaired by Sam Nunn and William Bennett. He had served as the chief speech writer for John Anderson's National Unity campaign and as an issues director for Walter Mondale's presidential campaign. Mr. Galston's research interests include social policy, family policy, education policy, and civic renewal.
Frederick M. Hess is director of education policy studies at AEI and executive editor of Education Next. He is known for his scholarship on educational issues, including the politics of school reform, urban education, district governance, accountability, professional licensure, school choice, and the nature of public education. He is the author of Common Sense School Reform, Revolution at the Margins, Spinning Wheels, and Bringing the Social Sciences Alive and the editor of School Choice in the Real World and A Qualified Teacher in Every Classroom. His work has appeared in several scholarly and popular publications, including Education Week, Social Science Quarterly, Phi Delta Kappan, Teachers College Record, and Urban Affairs Review. He currently serves on the Review Board for the Broad Prize in Urban Education.
Jeffrey Mirel is associate dean for academic affairs, professor of educational studies, and professor of history at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. His major research interest is the history of urban education in the United States. His first book, The Rise and Fall of an Urban School System: Detroit, 1907-1981, won a Critics' Choice Award from the American Educational Studies Association in 1994, the Outstanding Book Award from the American Educational Research Association in 1995, and the Outstanding Book Award from the History of Education Society for 1995-1996. His second book, The Failed Promise of the American High School, 1890-1995, was published in 1999. Since 1995, Mr. Mirel has been involved in a number of civic education programs in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, and his current research focuses on how schools have taught democratic ideals, values, and behaviors.
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