Rick Hess

Frederick M. Hess is a senior fellow and the director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). Rick’s books include Spinning Wheels, Common Sense School Reform, Education Unbound, Cage-Busting Leadership, Letters to a Young Education Reformer, A Search for Common Ground, and The Great School Rethink. He is the author of Education Week’s iconic blog “Rick Hess Straight Up” and Education Next’s popular “Old School with Rick Hess.” He’s an executive editor of Education Next, a contributing editor to National Review, and the founder and chair of AEI’s Conservative Education Reform Network. A one-time high school social studies teacher, he has also taught at the University of Virginia, Harvard, UPenn, Johns Hopkins, Rice, and Georgetown. He holds a PhD in politics and an MEd in teaching and curriculum from Harvard University.