It'll be very interesting to see who the Gates Foundation hires to replace Vander Ark.  Overall, I think the foundation has had a positive effect and I hope they hire a bold reformer to take their work to the next level!

For seven years, Tom Vander Ark has shaped educational giving for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, helping it pour billions of dollars into trying to help America’s high schools and making the foundation the biggest and most widely watched force in education philanthropy.

Next month, Mr. Vander Ark, executive director for education at the foundation, plans to step down.

As Michael S. McPherson, president of the Spencer Foundation in Chicago, said, “Everybody who cares about education will care about the choice of Tom’s successor.”

Of $12.7 billion that the foundation has committed since 1999, $1.6 billion has gone to education, to try to ensure that high school graduates are ready for college. An additional $1.8 billion has been for scholarships.

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November 4, 2006

Educators React to Shift in Leadership at Gates Fund

By KAREN W. ARENSON

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/04/education/04gates.html

For seven years, Tom Vander Ark has shaped educational giving for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, helping it pour billions of dollars into trying to help America’s high schools and making the foundation the biggest and most widely watched force in education philanthropy. Next month, Mr. Vander Ark, executive director for education at the foundation, plans to step down.