Grover J. (Russ) Whitehurst

Grover J. (Russ) Whitehurst is the first Director of the Institute of Education Sciences, as appointed by President George W. Bush. The Institute was established within the U.S. Department of Education by the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002. The Institute conducts, supports and disseminates research on education practices that improve academic achievement, statistics on the condition of education in the United States, and evaluations of the effectiveness of federal and other education programs. As director, Whitehurst administers the Institute, coordinates the work of the Institute with related activities carried out by other agencies within the Department and the federal government, and advises the secretary on research, evaluation and statistics relevant to the work of the Department. And, he engages in a variety of activities to encourage the use of scientifically based research in education policy and decision making throughout the United States. He was Leading Professor of Psychology and Pediatrics and Chairman of the Department of Psychology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Served on the faculty of the University of New South Wales in Australia and was Academic Vice President of the Merrill-Palmer Institute in Detroit. He was editor-in-chief of two leading scientific journals in his field: The Merrill-Palmer Quarterly of Behavior and Development and Developmental Review. He received his undergraduate degree at East Carolina University, and obtained a Ph.D. in experimental child psychology in 1970 from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.