Carl A. Cohn

Project Co-Chair

Carl A. Cohn is professor emeritus at Claremont Graduate University. From 2011 through 2018, he served the state of California first as a state board of education member, and then as executive director of the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence. Previously, he was superintendent of schools in both the Long Beach and San Diego school systems, as well as the Federal Court monitor for the Los Angeles school system. His tenure in Long Beach culminated with his winning the McGraw Prize in 2002, and the district winning the Broad Prize in 2003.

Dr. Cohn currently serves on the following boards: the Spencer Foundation, CTA’s Institute for Teaching, the Center for Assessment, the Alder Graduate School of Education, the Education Standing Committee of the California Catholic Conference, the Los Angeles Catholic Education Council, and the National Center for Learning Disabilities. In addition, he recently joined the Leadership Council of California Competes. During the summer and fall of 2020, he hosted the popular EdSource podcast “Schools on the Frontlines,” which captured the voices of superintendents and other educational leaders as they faced the multiple challenges of leading during a pandemic.

In addition to his work in K-12 education, he has prepared future educational leaders at Pittsburgh, California State University, Los Angeles, USC, Harvard, GW and Claremont.