Peter Muirhead, a former education official who played a key role in creating federal education programs, died of cancer Feb. 12 in Stuart, Fla. He was 84.
Mr. Muirhead began his career in the 1930s as a teacher and principal in New York. He later joined the New York State Department of Education. In 1957, Mr. Muirhead became the deputy commissioner of education in the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. He helped create and oversee the Higher Education Act and the Guaranteed Student Loan Program.
After leaving the department in 1974, Mr. Muirhead taught education at George Washington University in Washington until 1977. He was a consultant for the Washington-based Council of the Great City Schools until 1989.
