Board

Kent McGuire is an advisor to both the Stuart and Spencer Foundations, where he assists with convening, networking, proposal review and making connections between the worlds of philanthropy, public policy and educational practice.

Previously, Kent was the Program Director of Education at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. There he led the Foundation’s investments of its strategies on teaching and learning and open educational resources, with a focus on helping all students succeed in college, work and civic life. Before that, Kent was President and CEO of the Southern Education Foundation, an organization committed to advancing public education in the American South, with a focus on equity and excellence. Prior to that, he served as the Dean of the College of Education at Temple University and was a tenured professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies.

From 2001 to 2003, Kent was a senior vice president at the Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation, where he split his time between research projects on school reform and directing its department on education, children and youth. He has also been an education program officer at the Pew Charitable Trusts and directed the education program at the Lilly Endowment. Kent served as Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education from 1998 to 2001.

Kent earned his Ph.D. in public administration from the University of Colorado, an M.A. from Columbia University Teacher’s College, and a B.A in economics from the University of Michigan. He serves on the boards of the Institute for Citizens & Scholars, the Learning Policy Institute, the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, the Philanthropic Collaborative for Education, and The Wallace Foundation.