Frank Newman, who served as the president of the Education Commission of the States from 1985 until 1999, died of cancer on May 29 in Providence, R.I. He was 77.
Under his leadership, the Denver-based ECS focused on students at risk of academic failure, minority-teacher recruitment, school restructuring, and the link between brain research and learning.
Among other commission initiatives, Mr. Newman helped create the Campus Compact, which provides public-service opportunities for college students, and a project to help state and district leaders support citizenship education in grades K-12.
“Frank’s contributions to both K-12 and higher education were countless and will continue to influence other educators and policymakers for years to come,” Ted Sanders, the current president of the ECS, said in a statement.
Before joining the ECS, a nonprofit organization that helps state leaders with education policy, Mr. Newman was the president of the University of Rhode Island from 1974 to 1983 and then a presidential fellow at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. After retiring from the ECS, he was a visiting professor of public policy at Brown University, where he directed the Futures Project, a higher education think tank financed by the Pew Charitable Trusts, and a visiting professor at Teachers College, Columbia University.
—Lynn Olson
