Hope Jensen Leichter is an American educationalist. She serves as the Elbenwood Professor of Education 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 ...

. She earned a bachelor's of arts degree from

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

and completed her doctorate at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. Leichter has been a member of the

National Academy of Education The National Academy of Education (NAEd) is a nonprofit, non-governmental organization in the United States that advances high-quality research to improve education policy and practice. Founded in 1965, the NAEd currently consists of over 300 elect ...

since 1979, and was awarded a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

in 1981. She began her career working with the

Russell Sage Foundation The Russell Sage Foundation is an American non-profit organisation established by Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage, Margaret Olivia Sage in 1907 for “the improvement of social and living conditions in the United States.” It was named after her re ...

Episodes

When

Ruth Westheimer Karola Ruth Westheimer (née Siegel; June 4, 1928 – July 12, 2024), better known as Dr. Ruth, was a German and American sex therapist and talk show host. Westheimer was born in Germany to a Jewish family. As the Nazis came to power, her paren ...

got accepted at Teachers College, Columbia University, she told Hope Leichter, her academic advisor, in the hallway of the college, "I do have to tell you something that you have to know. I just flunked an exam at the

New School The New School is a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for progressive thinkers ...

". And Hope Leichter famously said "So what?" Westheimer later got a doctorate degree under Hope Leichter and became Dr. Ruth.

Notable Students

Related People

Margaret Mead Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901 – November 15, 1978) was an American cultural anthropologist, author and speaker, who appeared frequently in the mass media during the 1960s and the 1970s. She earned her bachelor's degree at Barnard Col ...

, research partner *

Jerome Bruner Jerome Seymour Bruner (October 1, 1915 – June 5, 2016) was an American psychologist who made significant contributions to human cognitive psychology and cognitive learning theory (education), learning theory in educational psychology. Bruner was ...

* Lawrence Arthur Cremin

Selected Publications

* "Stories are Learning" (''The Museum as a Place of Learning,'' Cornell University''). Kinship and Casework: Family Networks and Social Intervention'' (Russell Sage Foundation). * ''Families and Communities as Educators'' (Teachers College Press). * "The school and parents" (''The Teachers Handbook''). * "The concept of educative style" (''Teachers College Record''). * "Family contexts of television" (''Educational Communication and Technology''). * "Families and museum" (''Marriage and Family Review'').

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leichter, Hope Jensen Teachers College, Columbia University faculty Oberlin College alumni Harvard University alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people)