After the resignation of super-bureaucrat Robert Shireman from the office of deputy undersecretary of education last month, many wondered who his successor might be. Shireman, notable for his assaults on for-profit colleges, was a divisive figure. According to an article by Kelly Field in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Shireman’s successor will be James Kvaal, special assistant to President Obama on the White House National Economic Council:
Mr. Kvaal, who will join the department as deputy under secretary of education on June 7, comes to the job with a wealth of experience in higher-education policy, including several years as a Congressional aide and time as a senior policy adviser to President Bill Clinton. Before joining the economic council, in February of last year, he was a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a liberal public-policy group.
Kvaal, who earlier in his career was policy director for John Edwards’s 2008 presidental campaign, also worked at the Institute for College Access and Success. Shireman was president of that organization.
Perhaps more compelling, Kvaal was sort of a journalist and has written some interesting, and surprisingly readable, policy articles in the past.
Very interesting.
