Michael W. Kirst is Professor Emeritus of Education at Stanford University and President of the California State Board of Education. Dr. Kirst holds the distinction of being the only Board member to have served during both administrations of Governor Brown – he was also a member in the 1970s and Board president from 1977 to 1981. Dr. Kirst received his bachelor’s degree in economics from Dartmouth College, his M.P.A. in government and economics from Harvard University, and his Ph.D. in political economy and government from Harvard. Before joining the Stanford University faculty, Dr. Kirst held several positions with the federal government, including Staff Director of the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Manpower, Employment and Poverty, and Director of Program Planning and Evaluation for the Bureau of Elementary and Secondary Education in the U.S. Office of Education (now the U.S. Department of Education). He was a Budget Examiner in the Federal office of Budget and Management, and Associate Director of the White House Fellows. He was a program analyst for the Title I ESEA Program at its inception in 1965. A prolific writer, Dr. Kirst has authored several books, including The Political Dynamics of American Education (2005) and Higher Education and Silicon Valley: Connected But Conflicted (2017).