PAST DIRECTORS: RALPH W. TYLER (1954-1966)

Ralph W. Tyler received his PhD from the University of Chicago in 1927 and joined the faculty of Ohio State University, where he remained until 1938, when he joined the faculty of the University of Chicago. At Chicago he became chair of the Department of Education and later Dean of the Division of Social Sciences. He was named founding director of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral sciences in 1954 and held that position through 1966. Throughout his career he served on or advised a number of bodies charged with responsibility for setting guidelines for the expenditure of federal funds and contributed to the innovative structure underlying policy as spelled out in the momentous Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Dr. Tyler was a founding member and the first president of the National Academy of Education. He also served on the National Advisory Council on Education for Disadvantaged Children, was Chair of the System Development Foundation, and chaired the Exploratory Committee on Assessing Progress on Education. Dr. Tyler died in 1994 at the age of 92.