Fred M. Hechinger (July 7, 1920 – November 6, 1995) was a German-born American education editor at ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' from 1959 to 1990.

Life and career

Hechinger was born in 1920 in

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, the son of Lily (Niedermaier) and Dr. Julius Hechinger. His family was Jewish. He came to the U.S. in 1936. He earned his bachelor's degree at

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a Public university, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...

, where he wrote for the student newspaper, '' The Campus.''Sandra Shoiock Roff, Anthony M. Cucchiara & Barbara J. Dunlap, ''From the Free Academy to CUNY: Illustrating Public Higher Education in New York City, 1847–1997'' (Fordham University Press, 2000), p. 73. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II, where he was a

military intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis List of intelligence gathering disciplines, approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist Commanding officer, commanders in decision making pr ...

officer posted at the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

in London.Lawrence Van Gelder
Fred Hechinger, Education Editor and Advocate, Dies at 75
''New York Times'' (November 7, 1995). He was discharged in 1946 with the rank of

master sergeant A master sergeant is the military rank for a senior non-commissioned officer in the armed forces of some countries. Israel Defense Forces The (abbreviated "", master sergeant) is a non-commissioned officer () rank in the Israel Defense Force ...

. After the war, Hechinger was a student at

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

and then a foreign correspondent for the Overseas News Agency. He then became an education journalist, writing for ''

The Times of London ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fo ...

'', ''

The New York Herald Tribune The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New York Tribune'' acquired the ''New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...

'' (where he became education editor in 1950), and ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', as well as ''

Harper's ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the United States. ''Harper's Magazine'' has ...

''. He also spent three years in

Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport is the List of municipalities in Connecticut, most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the List of cities in New England by population, fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Loc ...

, as associate publisher and executive editor of the ''Bridgeport Sunday Herald''. Hechinger spent the majority of his career at ''

'', joining in 1959 and retiring in 1990. He was an education writer who also served at times on the paper's

editorial board The editorial board is a group of editors, writers, and other people who are charged with implementing a publication's approach to editorials and other opinion pieces. The editorials published normally represent the views or goals of the publicat ...

, as president of The New York Times Company Foundation, and a president of ''Times'' Neediest Cases Fund (from 1977 until his retirement). After retiring from the ''Times'', Hechinger became senior adviser to the

Carnegie Corporation of New York The Carnegie Corporation of New York is a philanthropic fund established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to support education programs across the United States, and later the world. Since its founding, the Carnegie Corporation has endowed or othe ...

. He was also a member of the National Advisory Committee for the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute. He died on November 7, 1995, at the age of 75, of

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...

, at his home on Manhattan's

Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the boroughs of New York City, borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded approximately by 96th Street (Manhattan), 96th Street to the north, the East River to the e ...

Family

He married Grace Bernstein; they had two sons, Paul D. Hechinger and John E. Hechinger. His grandson is actor

Fred Hechinger Fred Hechinger (; born on December 2, 1999) is an American actor. He began his career with supporting roles in such films as the coming-of-age film '' Eighth Grade'' (2018), the period drama ''News of the World'' (2020), and the psychological t ...

Legacy

The Fred M. Hechinger Grand Prize for Distinguished Education Reporting was established by Education Writers Association. The Hechinger Report (a project of the Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media) at

Teachers College, Columbia University Teachers College, Columbia University (TC) is the graduate school of education affiliated with Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. Founded in 1887, Teachers College has been a part of Columbia University since ...

, was named for him after he served as a Teachers College trustee since 1992. The Fred M. Hechinger Education Journalism Award is awarded by the Columbia Journalism School. His papers are held at the

Hoover Institution The Hoover Institution (officially The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace and formerly The Hoover Institute and Library on War, Revolution, and Peace) is an American public policy think tank which promotes personal and economic ...

Awards

*1989 George Polk Career Award *1980 Foreign Language Advocate Award, Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. *1952 James L. Fisher Award for Distinguished Service to Education *1950 George Polk Award, Education Reporting *1949 George Polk Award, Suburban Reporting

Works

"About Education; A New Elitism Appears in Higher Education"
''The New York Times'', Fred M. Hechinger, November 20, 1984

, Address by Fred M. Hechinger, December 5, 1991
"Are Schools Better in Other Countries?"
''In defense of the American public school'', Editor Arthur J. Newman, Transaction Publishers, 1978,
"Sving Youth from Violence"
''Crossroads: the quest for contemporary rites of passage''], Editors Louise Carus Mahdi, Nancy Geyer Christopher, Michael Meade, Open Court Publishing, 1996,
"Textbooks and Education"
''Public education under criticism'', Editors Cecil Winfield Scott, Clyde Milton Hill, Ayer Publishing, 1954,

''The Magpie'', June 1937, v. 21, n. 2., p. 12. *''An Adventure in Education: Connecticut Points the Way'', Macmillan, 1956 *''The Big Red Schoolhouse'' Doubleday, 1959; Smith, Peter Publisher, Inc., January 1990, *''Teen-Age Tyranny'' Morrow, 1963 *''The New York Times Guide to New York City Private Schools'', Simon & Schuster, 1968 *''Growing Up in America'' McGraw-Hill, 1975

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hechinger, Fred M. 1920 births 1995 deaths American education writers German Jews Jewish American non-fiction writers Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States United States Army officers United States Army personnel of World War II 20th-century American non-fiction writers DeWitt Clinton High School alumni City College of New York alumni George Polk Award recipients The New York Times editors