• AB, History, Harvard University, 1954
• AM, Teaching, Harvard University, 1960
• EdD, Administration, Planning & Social Policy, Harvard University, 1979

Academic Positions

• Teacher of Math, History, and English: The Cambridge School of Weston (1956-58), Park
• School of Buffalo (1958-62) (Head: History Dept. 1960-62), and the Germantown Friends
• School of Philadelphia (Head: History Dept. 1963-65).
• Deputy Director, Elem. Social Studies Program, ESI, Cambridge, MA, 1965-6.
• Director, Elementary Social Studies Program, EDC, 1966-67.
• Director, School and Society Programs, EDC, 1967-75.
• Lecturer on Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education, 1967-70
• Adjunct Associate Professor of Anthropology, SUNY Buffalo 1988-pres.
• Adjunct Associate Professor of Anthropology, Buffalo State College, 1998-pres.
• Director, Center for Science Education, Buffalo Museum of Science, 1992-pres.
• Director of Education, Buffalo Museum of Science, 1993-1998.
• President, First Hand Learning, Inc., 1998-pres.

Business Experience

• President & CEO, Dow & Company, Inc., Buffalo, NY 1975-1989. (Sales c. $15m. when company sold in 1989.)

Public Service Activities Related to Education

• Board of Trustees, Park School of Buffalo, 1978-1989; President, 1985-87
• Board of Directors, Documentary Educational Resources; President, 1987-pres.
• Board of Managers, Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences, 1985-1991.
• Board of Trustees, Buffalo Prep, 1990 to 1996; President, 1993-94.
• Board of Trustees, The Gow School, 1993-94.
• National Advisory Board, Atrium School, Watertown, MA
• National Advisory Board, Education Children for Parenting, Philadelphia, PA
• National Advisory Board, The Glenn T. Seaborg Science Center for Teaching and Learning
• Science and Mathematics, 1994-1996.
• National Advisory Board, The National Sciences Resources Center, The Smithsonian
• Institution, 1996-pres.
• National Advisory Board, Cal-Tech Pre-College Science Initiative, 1994-99
• National Advisory Board, MASE, Las Vegas, Arizona 1996-pres.
• Committee on Science Education, K-12, National Research Council, 1996-1999. Chair,
• Inquiry Addendum Sub-Committee, 1997 to 1999.
• Committee on Geographic Information Science, National Research Council, 2001-pres.

Awards

• Alumni Service Award, Park School of Buffalo, 1984
• State Department Grant for travel to Africa under State Department's Short Term Africa
• Grants Program, 1974. Visited educators in Zambia, Kenya, Ghana, and Sierra Leone.

Selected Publications

• Schoolhouse Politics: Lessons from the Sputnik Era Harvard University Press, 1991.

Articles

• "Why Inquiry? A Historical and Philosophical Commentary," Foundations, Vol 2, National Science Foundation, Vol.2, (1999)
• "Teachin~ with Objects: No Fault Learning?" The Social Studies (1994)
• "Past as prologue: The Legacy of Sputnik," The Social Studies (1992-)
• "Taming the Textbook Tyranny: Reflections of a would-be School Reformer," chapter in The Textbook Controversy: Issues. Aspects and Perspectives~ Ablex Publishers, 1991.
• "MACOS: Social Studies in Crisis," Educational Leadership, Vol 43, No.1, October, 1979.
• "Dusting Off Darwin: Can We Still Afford to Ban Him From the Schools?, "The American Biology Teacher, Vol 39, No.1. January, 1977.
• "MACOS Revisited: A Commentary on the Most Frequently Asked Questions about Man: A Course of Studv, Social Education, October, 1975.
• with Marilyn Clayton, "Exploring Childhood: A New Way for High School Students to Learn," Children Today, March/April, 1973.
• "If You Were a Baboon, How Would You Tell Your Mother You Are Hungry? New and Heavy Lessons for Ten~year-olds," Natural History Magazine, April, 1972.

Recent Talks

• "Unrealized Dreams: Let's Reinvent the New Social Studies." Opening Address at the Annual Conference of the Social Studies Education Consortium, Woods Hole, MA, 22 June 2000.
• "Revisiting MACOS: Problems and Prospects for Teaching Anthropology in the Schools." Seminar presented at the Department of Anthropology, Syracuse University, 2 December 1998 1998.
• "Informal and Formal Learning in Museum Schools," Keynote address given at the annual meeting of the New York City Museum Education Roundtable, May 16th, 1997.
• "Sputnik Revisited: Historical Perspectives on Science Reforms," Staff Seminar presented at the National Science Foundation, 26 February 1997.
• "Tweaking the Cat's Whiskers: The Museum as a Catalyst for Educational Reform," Presentation at the Annual Meeting of the Association of Science Technology Centers, Pittsburgh, 26 October 1996

Current Grants

TEAM 2000 A five-year National Science Foundation Local Systemic Change through Teacher Enhancement grant to provide professional development in inquiry and museum-based science to 1400 K-8 teachers in the Buffalo Public Schools ($4.9 m.) (P1).

Object Lessons: Inquiries in Natural History for Elementary Schools A four year grant funded by the National Science Foundation to create object-based teaching materials in natural history and anthropology using real objects, artifacts, and facsimiles supported by a wide variety of visual and written materials. ($1.7 m.) (P1)

Discover Life | All Living Things | IDnature guides | The Polistes Foundation | Peter Dow