Samuel Halperin collection

Dr. Samuel Halperin (May 10, 1930 - May 6, 2014), was a leader in education policy, has repeatedly donated valuable and significant collections to George Washington University. From 1969-1981, he headed leadership training programs at GW. He was awarded The President's Medal of George Washington University, the highest honor awarded by the President of the University. Past recipients include Vaclav Havel, Victor Borge, Walter Cronkite, Abba Eban, and Mikhail Gorbachev.

Dr. Halperin earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in 1952 and his Ph.D. in 1956, all in political science and all at Washington University in St. Louis. He began teaching political science at Wayne State University before winning a Congressional Fellowship from the American Political Science Association. He was in Washington D.C. during President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society and became an avid participant. As assistant U.S. commissioner of education for legislation, and, later, as a deputy assistant secretary of health, education, and welfare, he helped craft the historic church-state compromise that cleared the way for passage of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, providing federal funding for programs to help low-income children in public and private schools. He was also active in the Higher Education Act, which provided substantial new sources of financial aid for college students.

In 1986, Dr. Halperin went to the William T. Grant Foundation as the study director of its Commission on Work, Family, and Citizenship. There, he co-authored two landmark reports, "The Forgotten Half: Non-College Youth in America" and "The Forgotten Half: Pathways to Success for America's Youth and Young Families." In an attempt to enact recommendations from these reports, Dr. Halperin founded the American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) in 1993. The AYPF brings together various interested parties with the goal of bridging the gap between research, policy, and practice in the fields of education, youth development, and employment readiness.

Dr. Halperin also served as President of the Institute for Educational Leadership, and has written or edited a dozen books on the political process and educational policy. He has taught at American, Duke, and Columbia Universities. In addition to his GW honor and numerous other distinctions, he has received the American Association of Community College's Harry S. Truman Award.