# Fernando M. Reimers ## Fernando M. Reimers ### **Short bio** Fernando M. Reimers is the Ford Foundation Professor of the Practice in International Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Director of the Global Education Innovation Initiative at Harvard University. His work examines how education systems can better prepare children and youth for civic and economic participation, and how curriculum, leadership, teacher professional development, and policy can support large-scale improvement aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. His recent work also addresses the role of artificial intelligence in transforming education systems, particularly in lower-resource contexts, including in *Artificial Intelligence and Education in the Global South*. Reimers is an elected member of the United States National Academy of Education and the International Academy of Education, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He served on UNESCO’s Commission on the Futures of Education, which produced *Reimagining Our Futures Together: A New Social Contract for Education*. --- ## **About Fernando M. Reimers** Fernando M. Reimers is a Venezuelan-born scholar and practitioner of international and comparative education based at Harvard University. He serves as the Ford Foundation Professor of the Practice in International Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) and as Director of the Global Education Innovation Initiative (GEII), a cross-country research and practice collaborative focused on education for the twenty-first century. Reimers’ central interest is advancing understanding of the ways schools can empower students to participate civically and economically, expand opportunity, and contribute to more inclusive, sustainable societies. A defining feature of his work is connecting these educational aims to global challenges—such as climate change, inequality, and threats to democracy—and to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). More recently, he has focused on the implications of artificial intelligence for curriculum, instruction, assessment, teacher learning, leadership, and education system governance—particularly in the Global South—work reflected in *Artificial Intelligence and Education in the Global South: A Systems Perspective*. Reimers is an elected member of the United States National Academy of Education and of the International Academy of Education, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He served on UNESCO’s Commission on the Futures of Education, which authored *Reimagining Our Futures Together: A New Social Contract for Education*. He has also served on the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO. --- ## **Teaching and academic leadership** Reimers teaches courses in comparative education policy and educational innovation. His teaching explores how education systems can support students in developing the competencies that improve their quality of life and opportunities, while also strengthening their capacity to contribute to the common good. At HGSE, he co-leads: - the Global, International, and Comparative Education concentration, and - the International Education Policy and Management pathway (online master’s program). He was the founding director of HGSE’s International Education Policy master’s program, created to prepare leaders of systemic efforts to enhance the quality and relevance of education around the world. His book *One Student at a Time: Leading the Global Education Movement* analyzes the contributions of graduates of that program to the broader global education movement (also available in Spanish). His work on leadership and educational continuity during COVID-19 includes books and edited volumes that examine how education leaders and systems sustained educational opportunity during the pandemic. A hallmark of his pedagogy is project-based policy analysis and client-engaged learning, in which students consult for real organizations and education systems, producing work that is often refined into publications. He also develops approaches that incorporate AI-enhanced teaching and learning, including flipped classroom models. --- ## **Research and current work** Reimers’ research focuses on educational innovation and on the impact of education policy, curriculum, leadership, teacher professional development, and artificial intelligence on education systems—especially as these factors relate to the holistic development of children and youth. Through GEII, he has led comparative, cross-national research and publication programs on: - system-level reforms to educate the “whole child,” - global citizenship education and SDG-aligned curriculum, - education and climate change, and - education system responses to crisis (including COVID-19). During the COVID-19 pandemic, he led and edited multiple comparative studies of educational continuity and system adaptation, including: - *Primary and Secondary Education During COVID-19* (comparative analyses of system responses), - *Schools and Society During the COVID-19 Pandemic* (medium-term impacts on system priorities and functioning), and - *University and School Collaborations During a Pandemic* (how universities partnered with schools across countries to sustain opportunity). He also collaborated with partners at the OECD, the World Bank, and others to develop case studies of educational innovation during the pandemic and frameworks to support education decision-making during disruption, including the OECD report *A Framework to Guide an Education Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic of 2020* (with Andreas Schleicher). --- ## **Publications (selected highlights)** Reimers’ work is available through academic publishers and widely used practitioner channels; it can also be found on ResearchGate, Academia.edu, Google Scholar, and other platforms. Recent and representative books include: **Artificial intelligence and education systems** - *Artificial Intelligence and Education in the Global South: A Systems Perspective* (with co-authors) **Global education, SDGs, and system reform** - *Educating Students to Improve the World* (also available in French, Portuguese, Spanish, and Turkish) - *Audacious Education Purposes: How Governments Transform the Goals of Education Systems* (also available in Spanish) - *Implementing Deeper Learning and 21st Century Education Reforms* (also available in Spanish) - *Empowering Teachers to Build a Better World* (also available in Portuguese and Spanish) **Climate change and education** - *Education and Climate Change: The Role of Universities* (also available in Spanish) **COVID-19 and education system leadership** - *Primary and Secondary Education During COVID-19* - *Schools and Society During the COVID-19 Pandemic* - *University and School Collaborations During a Pandemic* - *Leading Education Through COVID-19: Upholding the Right to Education* - *Leading Educational Change During a Pandemic: Reflections of Hope and Possibility* - *Liderando Sistemas Educativos durante la Pandemia de COVID-19* **Earlier work on inequality, opportunity, and global education** - *Unequal Schools, Unequal Chances* (also available in Spanish) - *Hope or Despair? Primary Education in Pakistan* - *Empowering Global Citizens* (also available in multiple languages) - *Informed Dialogue* (also available in Spanish) He has also written children’s books designed to foster intergenerational conversations about the values and competencies needed to live well with others in a diverse and interdependent world, as well as books that cultivate appreciation for the natural world. --- ## **Service, advising, and collaboration** Reimers has advised governments, foundations, universities, school networks, schools, and international development agencies on curriculum reform, system improvement, teacher education, and SDG-aligned educational strategies. He has collaborated with UNESCO on efforts to transform teacher education in support of these aims. His service has included board and advisory roles with education organizations and international initiatives. Among other roles, he served on the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education (2012–2019), chairing its Strategic Planning Committee and working with public universities across the state on strategic plans to enhance access, quality, and relevance. He has also served on boards and advisory bodies connected to international education cooperation and planning. He has worked with coalitions of educators to develop ambitious, rigorous curriculum resources that make education more relevant to the demands of the twenty-first century and the global common good, and he has led and supported efforts to strengthen education dialogue and organizational learning—work discussed in *Informed Dialogue* and applied in multiple national and international reform contexts. --- ## **Honors and recognition (selected)** Reimers’ recognitions include an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters from Emerson College, the CJ Koh Visiting Professorship at Singapore’s National Institute of Education, the Global Citizenship Award from the Committee for Teaching About the United Nations, and the Institute of International Education’s Centennial Medal. In 2025, he received the Enrique Anderson-Imbert Award from the North American Academy of the Spanish Language. --- ## **Connect** - **Twitter/X:** FernandoReimers - **LinkedIn:** fernando-reimers