HGSE Timeline

1891

Paul Henry Hanus named first Harvard faculty member in education. Harvard President Charles William Eliot selects Hanus to develop the field of education at Harvard and Eliot's program of school reform.

1920

Harvard Graduate School of Education established. Henry W. Holmes appointed Dean. HGSE is the first faculty to award women Harvard degrees. The new school is supported by eminent businessmen such as A. Lincoln Filene and Felix Warburg, who regarded schools as American society's most decisive institution for the 20th century.

1936

Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) degree established. The new degree is an elite joint program of HGSE and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

1947

Carnegie Corporation contributes $300,000 to HGSE endowment drive, the largest gift to the school since 1920.

1949

Laboratory of Human Development established to examine the psychological development of children in their families and communities. Faculty members undertake some of the first crosscultural studies of children in India, Mexico, the Philippines, and Africa under its aegis. Their work is supported in part by the Rockefeller Foundation.

1951

M.A.T. reorganized into a one-year, Ed.M. program, including supervised internship of classroom teaching. The new program attracts top graduates and becomes a national model for the profession.

1952

Administrative Career Program started. The graduates of this specialized doctorate program to train educational leaders have gone on to lead many of the nation's finest school systems and educational institutions.

1956

HGSE and WGBH-TV coproduce educational television programs French through Television and How Our Children Learn to Read.

1962

Dean Francis Keppel named U.S. Commissioner of Education by President John F. Kennedy.

1965

Larsen Hall dedicated. A lead gift from Roy E. Larsen, chairman of Time, Inc., established the new classroom and research center on HGSE's campus. A 1921 graduate of Harvard College, Larsen led several national efforts to strengthen public schools.

1967

Project Zero founded by Nelson Goodman to explore art and learning from a cognitive standpoint.

1972

Gutman Library created with a lead gift from Monroe C. Gutman. The building's successful fundraising campaign was led by Frederick A. O. Schwarz, James B. Conant, John Hersey, and William Paley.

1975

Center for Research in Children's Television program started. Faculty members and students help create content for shows like Sesame Street and The Electric Company in collaboration with the Children's Television Workshop.

1978

Programs in Professional Education begun, offering educators the opportunity to develop new skills through intensive, short programs.

1981

Principals' Center opened, quickly becoming a national model for ongoing professional development organized by and for school leaders.

1982

Patricia Albjerg Graham named dean of HGSE, the first woman dean of a faculty at Harvard University.

1983

Midcareer Math and Science Program established, anticipating the national need for talented math and science educators and becoming a model for more than 50 similar programs around the country.

1990

Urban Superintendents Program launched, the nation's first comprehensive doctoral program for urban educational leaders.

1992

Jerome T. Murphy named HGSE's seventh dean. Under his leadership, the school establishes several new master's and doctoral programs.

1998

The Emily Hargroves Fisher Professorship in Education established. The chair will be renamed for Professor Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot upon her retirement from the faculty, making it the first professorship in Harvard's history to be named for an African-American woman.

1999

HGSE completes a capital campaign totaling $111 million, including the endowment of 16 professorships. This represents the largest sum ever raised by a school of education up to that time.

2002

Ellen Condliffe Lagemann is appointed the eighth dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Lagemann is the second woman dean of HGSE, and the third woman dean of a faculty at Harvard.

2003

The Public Education Leadership Project (PELP) is launched. A joint project of the Ed School and the Harvard Business School, PELP initially works with nine urban school to improve educational outcomes.

2006

Kathleen McCartney is named dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education.