Carl Kaestle

Carl Frederick Kaestle (born March 27, 1940) is a Professor of Education, History, and Public Policy emeritus at Brown University. His historical research has focused on the development of American schools, particularly in the 1800s. He has worked at the University of Chicago and University of Wisconsin–Madison and is a former president of the National Academy of Education.

Early life

Carl Frederick Kaestle was born on March 27, 1940, in Schenectady, New York.^[1] He graduated with a B.A. from Yale in 1962, and with a master's and Ph.D. from Harvard in 1971.^[2]

Career

In 1970, Kaestle came to the University of Wisconsin–Madison^[3] and later became the William F. Vilas Research Professor in educational policy studies and history.^[2] He was the chair of Madison's educational policy studies department between 1978 and 1981.^[2] Towards the late 1980s, he had international renown as a historian of American education and literacy.^[3] His research has focused on the development of American schools, particularly in the 1800s.^[2] Kaestle co-founded the Center for the History of Print Culture in Modern America at the UW–Madison in 1992.^[3] He was the original chair of its advisory board, which gathered academics and librarians interested in print culture from across UW–Madison's campus.^[3]

In his 1983 Pillars of the Republic, Kaestle argued "... the eventual acceptance of state common-school systems was encouraged by Americans' commitment to republican government, by the dominance of native Protestant culture, and by the development of capitalism".^[4]

In 1995, Kaestle left the University of Wisconsin–Madison for the University of Chicago,^[3] and later became the University Professor and Professor of Education, History, and Public Policy emeritus at Brown University.^[5] He wrote a book on the history of federal involvement in elementary and secondary education from 1940 to 1980.^[6]

Personal life

In 1997, Kaestle married Elizabeth Hollander (née Lynes) (1939–2015),