I am truly delighted to announce that Kent McGuire will be joining the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation as the director of our Education Program. A veteran of philanthropy, government, and academia, Kent is nationally known for his strong commitment to both equity and excellence in education. His unique combination of cross-sector experience and leadership makes him exceptionally qualified to direct our program, which seeks to help all students succeed in college, work and civic life. Kent will join the foundation early this summer.
Kent comes to us from the Southern Education Foundation, where he has served as President and CEO since 2010, leading a team committed to advancing public education in the South. Prior to that, he served as the Dean of the College of Education at Temple University and was a tenured professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies. He served as Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education from 1998-2001.
Kent also brings deep understanding of the practice of philanthropy and the work of our grantees. He served as an education program officer at the Pew Charitable Trusts and directed the education program at the Lilly Endowment, and he currently serves on the boards of the Wallace Foundation, the Institute for Education Leadership, the New Teacher Project, and the Alliance for Excellent Education. He also served as a senior vice president at MDRC.
Kent earned a Ph.D. in public administration from the University of Colorado, an M.A. from Columbia University Teacher’s College, and a B.A in economics from the University of Michigan.
Kent succeeds Barbara Chow, who completed her eight-year term this February. Under Barbara’s leadership, the Education Program helped make open educational resources available to more students and faculty, and expanded its support for grantees seeking to help America’s students build academic knowledge, skills and mindsets that lead to deeper learning. The foundation remains committed to the important goals in these areas of grantmaking, and I look forward to Kent’s vision and leadership in this role, which will help us in our efforts to advance education for all.