The Carnegie Corporation of New York has selected Vartan Gregorian its new president.
Mr. Gregorian, the president of Brown University and a former president and chief executive officer of the New York Public Library, will assume his new post in July. He will replace David A. Hamburg, who will become president emeritus. ... Carnegie has also named as its chairman Thomas H. Kean, the president of Drew University in Madison, N.J., and a former New Jersey governor. He replaces retiring chairman Newton N. Minow.
The foundation promotes improvement at all levels of U.S. education and supports the expansion of public libraries and the educational uses of television and other electronic media.
Yale University psychiatrist James P. Comer has been awarded the 1996 Heinz Award in the category of the human condition. His acclaimed School Development Program uses principles of behavioral science and child psychiatry and emphasizes the combined roles of teachers, parents, school administrators, and students in operating schools.
The program was established in 1968 as a collaborative effort between the Yale University Child Study Center and the city of New Haven, Conn. It is now being used in more than 600 schools in 20 states and the District of Columbia.
The awards are presented by the Pittsburgh-based Heinz Family Foundation and celebrate the memory of the late U.S. Sen. John Heinz of Pennsylvania. The awards honor individual achievement in the categories of the arts and humanities, the environment, the human condition, public policy, and technology, the economy, and employment. The awards include a $250,000 cash prize.
Alternative Public Schools Inc. has named Michael B. Ronan its vice president of school administration.
Mr. Ronan, the superintendent of the Uxbridge, Mass., public schools, will oversee the two schools managed by the Nashville, Tenn.-based company. APS contracts with local districts and charter schools to manage public schools. The company’s controversial agreement to run a troubled elementary school in Wilkinsburg, Pa., has received widespread attention. (“Cease-Fire Marks Opening of Pa. School in Privatization War Sept. 13, 1995, and “Wilkinsburg Should Rehire Teachers, Arbitrator Says,” Jan. 24, 1996.)
--ADRIENNE D. COLES acoles@epe.org