TO LIFT THE LEADEN-EYED: ERNEST BOYER’S CAREER IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Abstract

This study examined Ernest L. Boyer’s life (1928-1995), career, and influence on higher education. Scholar, administrator, education reformer, devoted Christian, husband and parent, Boyer was acknowledged by some as one of the most influential leaders in higher education of the twentieth century (Bradley & Smith, 1995; Carnegie Foundation, 1996; Coye, 1997, Reid-Wallace, n.d.). Ernest Boyer held prominent positions of educational leadership spanning three decades. As former chancellor of the State University of New York System (1971-1977), United States Commissioner of Education during the Carter administration (1977-1979), and President of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (1979-1995), Boyer’s career was devoted to public education in America, yet little scholarship has focused on the historical impact of his influence, especially in the context of higher education.