A. Graham Down, the executive director and president of the Council for Basic Education from 1974 to 1994, died Aug. 30. He was 85.
Mr. Down was a proponent of high academic standards and a strong liberal arts curriculum, which the council championed until it closed in 2004.
He also served as acting director of the College Board’s Advanced Placement program. In recent years, he wrote online book reviews for the journal Education Next.
