President Bush has appointed Grover "Russ" Whitehurst of New York, to serve a six-year term as director of the Institute of Education Sciences at the Department of Education. Whitehurst has served since July 2001 as the department's assistant secretary for the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, which is being replaced by the new institute. Before joining the administration, he was leading professor of psychology and pediatrics and chair of the department of psychology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He completed his bachelor's degree at East Carolina University, and earned a master's degree and Ph.D. at the University of Illinois.

"The department is very fortunate to have Russ at the helm of our educational research efforts," said U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige. "He brings to the department more than 30 years of experience in education research, and has been able to make major changes in the way that research is conducted in the field and used in the department during the year and a half that he has served as assistant secretary. I expect him to have even more impact as director of the institute, as we continue to figure out ways to help students learn better by determining what works and what doesn't in educational programs and practices."

The new Institute of Education Sciences was formally established as a result of the president signing the Education Sciences Reform Act 2002 on November 5. The institute will include national education centers focused on research, statistics, and evaluation, and will allow the department to move forward aggressively to support the high-quality research, evaluation, and statistical activities needed to improve education policy and practice.

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