Winners
The Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Prize in Education recognizes innovators who unleash human potential through technology, methodology, and leadership. Since its creation, nearly 100 remarkable leaders in all fields of education have been recognized and celebrated, many of whom continue to play transformative roles today.
2020 Prize Winners
“Each of these winners has dedicated their careers to creating tools and opportunities to unlock the vast potential that exists inside every learner. They serve as an inspiration for how educators can respond creatively to meet our greatest educational challenges.”
—Pam Grossman, Dean, Penn GSE
Estela Mara Bensimon
Founder & Director, Center for Urban Education
University Professor & Dean’s Professor in Educational Equity
Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California
Michelene T. H. Chi
Regents Professor, Dorothy Bray Endowed Professor of Science and Teaching at Arizona State University
Director of the Learning and Cognition Lab
Joseph S. Krajcik
Lappan-Phillips Professor of Science Education at Michigan State University
Founder and Director of the CREATE for STEM Institute
Past Prize Winners
2018
Arthur Graesser
Professor, Department of Psychology and the Institute of Intelligent Systems, University of Memphis
Reshma Saujani
Founder and CEO, Girls Who Code
Timothy Renick
Senior Vice President for Student Success and Professor, Georgia State University
2017
Chris Anderson
"Curator" of TED
Christine Cunningham
Founder and Director of Engineering is Elementary
Sandy Shugart
President of Valencia College
2016
Alberto Carvalho
Superintendent of Miami-Dade Public Schools
Anant Agarwal
CEO and Co-Founder of edX
Sakena Yacoobi
Founder and Director of Afghan Institute of Learning
2014
Andreas Schleicher
Director for the Directorate of Education and Skills, OECD
Chris Lehmann
Founding Principal, Science Leadership Academy
Sara Martinez Tucker
CEO, National Math + Science Initiative
2013
Dave Levin
Co-Founder, Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP)
Deborah Bial
President and Founder, The Posse Foundation
Shirley A. Reed
President, South Texas College
Mike Feinberg
Co-Founder, Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP)
2012
Ariela Rozman
CEO, The New Teacher Project
John Merrow
Education Correspondent, PBS NewsHour; President, Learning Matters
Sal Khan
Founder and Executive Director, Khan Academy
Timothy Daly
President, The New Teacher Project
2011
Julie Young
President and CEO of Florida Virtual School
Mitchel Resnick
Professor of Learning Research, MIT Media Lab
Robert Beichner
Professor Physics Department, NC State University
2010
Christopher Cerf
Executive Producer, Between the Lions
Larry Rosenstock
CEO and Founder, High Tech High
Robert Mendenhall
President, Western Governors University
2009
Josephe S. Renzulli
Distinguished Professor of Educational Psychology, Neag School of Education
Linda Darling-Hammond
Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education, Stanford University
Sarita E. Brown
President, Excelencia in Education
2008
Charles B. Reed
Chancellor, California State University (CSU) System
Judith Berry Griffin
President and Founder, Pathways to College
Richard Blais
Vice President and Co-Founder, Project Lead The Way
2007
Lois B. DeFleur
President, Binghamton University, State University of New York
Reynauld Smith
Social Studies and Advanced Placement American History Teacher
Vivien Stewart
Vice President for Education Asia Society
2006
Norman R. Augustine
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Retired, of Lockheed Martin Corporation
Vincent D. Murray
Principal of Henry W. Grady High School
Wendy Kopp
President and Founder, Teach For America
2005
Barbara T. Bowman
Co-Founder, Erikson Institute
Ellen Moir
Executive Director, New Teacher Center, University Of California, Santa Cruz
Sharon Lynn Kagan
Co-director of the National Center for Children and Families
2004
Janet E. Lieberman
Founder, The Middle College High School
Geoffrey Canada
President and CEO, Harlem Children’s Zone, Inc.
Robert Moses
Founder and President, “The Algebra Project”
Cecilia Cunningham
Director, Middle College National Consortium
2003
Carol A. Twigg
President and CEO, Center for Academic Transformation
Kati Haycock
Director, The Education Trust
Mark A. Edwards
Superintendent, Henrico County Public Schools
2002
Dennis Littky
Co-Director, The “MET” and Big Picture Learning; Founder and President, College Unbound
Eric J. Smith
Superintendent, Anne Arundel County Public Schools
Libia Socorro Gil
Superintendent, Chula Vista Elementary School District, California
2001
Carl A. Cohn
Superintendent, Long Beach Unified School District
Freeman Hrabowski
President, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Mary Catherine Swanson
Founder and Director, AVID
2000
Nancy S. Grasmick
Maryland State Superintendent of Schools
Rod Paige
Superintendent Houston Independent School District
Sandy Weill
Chairman and CEO, Citigroup, Inc.
1999
Gerry House
President and CEO, Institute for Student Achievement
James B. Hunt, Jr.
Governor of North Carolina
John I. Goodlad
Director, Center for Educational Renewal, University of Washington
1998
Paul A. Elsner
Chancellor, Maricopa Community College
Arthur Greenberg
Superintendent of Schools, Community School District 25, Flushing, New York
Elliot W. Eisner
Professor of Education and Art, Stanford
Alfredo de los Santos
Vice Chancellor for Student and Educational Development, Maricopa Community College
1997
Barbara T. Bush
Founder, Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy
Diana Natalicio
President, The University of Texas at El Paso
JW Carmichael, Jr.
Professor, Xavier University
Vera M. White
Principal, Jefferson Junior High School
1996
Donald W. Ingerwerson
Superintendent of Schools, Los Angeles County, California
Roy Romer
Former Governor of Colorado
Yvonne Chan
Principal, Vaughn Next Century Learning Center
1995
Ernest L. Boyer
Former U.S. Commissioner of Education
James E. (Gene) Bottoms
Director, High Schools That Work program, Southern Regional Education Board
Mary E. Diez
Dean of Education, Alverno College
1994
Alicia Thomas
Principal, Jackson-Keller Elementary School, San Antonio, Texas
Harold Howe II
Former U.S. Commissioner of Education
Particia M. Bolanos
Principal, Key and Renaissance Schools, Indianapolis, Indiana
1993
Booth Gardner
Former Governor of Washington
Sharon Darling
President and Founder, National Center for Family Literacy
Sister Mary Brian Costello
R.S.M., Chief of Staff, Archdiocese of Chicago
1992
Edward Zigler
Sterling Professor of Psychology, Yale University
Shirley A. Hill
Curators’ Professor of Education and Mathematics, University of Missouri-Kansas City
Thomas W. Payzant
Senior Lecturer, Harvard Graduate School of Education
1991
Judith Taack Lanier
Dean of Education, Michigan State University; President, Michigan Partnership for New Education
Robert H. McCabe
President, Miami-Dade Community College District
Theodore R. Sizer
Professor of Education, Brown University; Chairman Emeritus, Coalition of Essential Schools
1990
Clark Kerr
President Emeritus, University of California
James P. Comer
Associate Dean, Yale School of Medicine, Yale Child Study Center
Richard C. Wallace, Jr.
Superintendent, Pittsburgh Public Schools, Pennsylvania
1989
Kathleen A. Ross
President, Heritage College
Kenneth B. Clark
Distinguished Professor of Psychology Emeritus, CUNY
Richard W. Riley
Former Governor of South Carolina
1988
Claiborne Pell
Former United States Senator (D-RI)
Helen Crouch
President, Literacy Volunteers of America
Terrel H. Bell
Former U.S. Secretary of Education