Chester E. Finn Jr.


Chester Evans Finn Jr. is a former professor of education, an educational policy analyst, and a former United States Assistant Secretary of Education. He is currently the president emeritus 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. He was also a member of the Maryland Kirwan Commission on Education during its authorization period from 2016 to 2019.
Finn was Professor of Education and Public Policy at Vanderbilt University. He served as Assistant Secretary for Research and Improvement at the U.S. Department of Education. Prior positions included Staff Assistant to the President of the United States; Special Assistant to the Governor of Massachusetts ; Counsel to the United States Ambassador to India ; Research Associate at the Brookings Institution ; and Legislative Director for Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

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