Brian Rowan is the Burke A. Hinsdale Collegiate Professor in Education, a Research Professor at the Institute for Social Research, and (by courtesy) a Professor of Sociology at the University of Michigan. A sociologist by training (Ph.D., Stanford University), Rowan’s research and teaching address the question of how schools can be organized to improve students’ academic achievement. Over the years, he has written about education as an institution, the organization and management of schools, the nature of teachers’ and school leaders’ work, and how schooling affects students’ academic achievement. In 1994 he won the William J. Davis award for outstanding scholarship in the field of educational administration, and in 2007 he was elected to membership in the National Academy of Education. He consults widely with research and development organizations in the United States, has served on the editorial boards of leading journals in the field of education, and is the author, co-author or editor of four books and numerous scholarly articles, technical reports and research monographs. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Michigan, Rowan was chairperson of the Department of Educational Administration at Michigan State University and a senior research director at the Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and Development in San Francisco, California.