James Conant

James Conant (1893-1978), American chemist, diplomat, and educator, born in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Conant received his education at Harvard University and taught chemistry there from 1916 until he became president of Harvard in 1933. His administration was marked by the application of liberal theories in education, and he was instrumental in reorganizing the curriculum so that professional training was concentrated in postgraduate work, while in the undergraduate college stress was laid on general education. In 1953 he was named president emeritus of the university.

In 1941 Conant was appointed director of the National Defense Research Committee and deputy director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development. He held both posts throughout World War II and thus played an important administrative part in the development of the atomic bomb. From 1953 to 1955 he served as United States high commissioner for Germany, and from 1955 to 1957 he was US ambassador to West Germany. In 1957 he undertook a two-year study, financed by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, of high schools in the United States; this research was followed by another report in 1967.

After 1957 Conant became one of the best-known critics of American secondary education, advocating higher academic standards and curricular reforms. Among his writings in the field of education are The American High School Today (1959), Slums and Suburbs (1961), and The Comprehensive High School: A Second Report to Interested Citizens (1967). He also wrote the autobiographical My Several Lives (1970).