Robert Schwartz
Harvard University
Senior Advisor, Harvard Project on Workforce
Year Elected
2013
Membership status
Emeritus
Bob Schwartz joined the faculty of the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 1996, where he served, successively, as Lecturer, Professor of Practice, Academic Dean, Francis Keppel Professor in Educational Policy and Administration, and Senior Research Fellow. Prior to joining the HGSE faculty, Schwartz served in a variety of roles in education: high school teacher and principal; education advisory to the Mayor of Boston and the Governor of Massachusetts; Assistant Director of the National Institute of Education; Executive Director of The Boston Compact; and Education Program director at The Pew Charitable Trusts. From 1997-2002 Schwartz served as founding President of Achieve, Inc, a non-profit organization created by governors and corporate leaders to help improve performance in US Schools.
Since 2010 Schwartz has participated in two OECD studies, Learning for Jobs and Strong Performers and Successful Reformers and contributed chapter to four Harvard Education Press Volumes: Teaching Talent (2010), Surpassing Shanghai (2011), The Futures of School Reform (2012), and Improving the Odds for America’s Children (2014). In 2011, he co-authored an influential report calling for more attention to career and technical education, Pathways to Prosperity: Meeting the Challenge of Preparing Young Americans for the 21st Century. He is currently co-leading a national network of 15 states and regions that was formed in 2012 to act upon analysis and recommendations outlined in the Pathways Report. In 2017, he published (with Nancy Hoffman) Learning for Careers: The Pathways to Prosperity Network (Harvard Education Press).