Carl Cohn
Advisory Committee Member
We are delighted that one of the state’s most respected education leaders, Carl A. Cohn, has agreed to serve as an advisor to our firm. We appreciate Carl’s deep understanding of policy, his commitment to California students and families and his experience as a leader of systemic change and improvement in our public education system.
Carl’s Background
Carl A. Cohn is professor emeritus and senior research fellow at Claremont Graduate University. From 2011 through 2018, he served the state of California first as a state board of education member, and then as executive director of the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence. Previously, he was superintendent of schools in both the Long Beach and San Diego school systems, as well as the Federal Court monitor for the Los Angeles school system. His tenure in Long Beach culminated with his winning the McGraw Prize in 2002, and the district winning the Broad Prize in 2003. In recent years, he has been elected to both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Education.
Dr. Cohn currently serves on the following boards: the Spencer Foundation, the Center for Assessment, the Alder Graduate School of Education, the Education Standing Committee of the California Catholic Conference, the National Center for Learning Disabilities, Jewish Family and Children’s Services of Long Beach/West Orange County, and California Competes. He recently received a grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation to study the phenomenon of the attempt by culture warriors to takeover local school boards.
In addition to his work in K-12 education, he has prepared future educational leaders at Pittsburgh, California State University, Los Angeles, USC, Harvard, George Washington and Claremont.