Educators

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An educator may refer to a person who is adequately skilled in the theory and practice of education that, he/she may be involved in the implementation of education to others. An educator may be a teacher, professor, an administrator of a university, college, school or any other kind of educational institution. A skilled practitioner of the profession of imparting knowledge is known as an educator. An educator may be specialized in a particular field of study some of them may include, accounting, agriculture, drama, economics, philosophy, linguistics, literature, dance and mathematics among many other specialized fields of study. A professional educator may work on his/her own and even own an educational institution. An educator plays a crucial and significant role in the life of students, training them academically and also shaping their lives, ensuring their emotional and psychological health and welfare. An educator may play a huge role in the lives of his/her students, acting as a mentor, guide, confidant and friend. An educator may also be a specialized teacher of spirituality or religion. Explore some of the most fascination lives of famous educators along by reading some of their biographies that include trivia, interesting facts, timeline and life history.
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 1 
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
(2nd President of India (1962 – 1967), 1st Vice President of India (1952 - 1962))
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
58
Birthdate: September 5, 1888
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Thiruttani, Tamil Nadu, India
Died: April 17, 1975

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was the second President of India and served from 1962 to 1967. He is regarded as one of India’s most eminent scholars and wrote extensively on Indian philosophy and religion. Lifelong he defended Hindu traditions and culture against criticism from the West. September 5, his birthday, is observed as Teachers Day in India, in his honour.

 2 
Booker T. Washington
(American Educator Who was the Dominant Leader of the African-American Community Between 1890 and 1915)
Booker T. Washington
17
Birthdate: April 5, 1856
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Westlake Corner, Virginia, United States
Died: November 14, 1915
Booker T. Washington was born into slavery but rose to be an advisor to many U.S. presidents and also became the director of the Tuskegee Institute. His Atlanta Compromise, initially accepted and later rejected by black leaders, urged the blacks to work for their freedom through education and not revolt.
 3 
John Dewey
(Philosopher)
John Dewey
20
Birthdate: October 20, 1859
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Burlington, Vermont, United States
Died: June 1, 1952

A staunch advocate of progressive education and liberalism, the American philosopher and psychologist was the founder of the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools. John Dewey’s famous writings included The Reflex Arc Concept in Psychology and Human Nature and Conduct. According to him, passion for knowledge and intellectual curiosity were central to a teacher. He called himself a democratic socialist.

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 4 
Savitribai Phule
(Social Reformer, Poet)
Savitribai Phule
17
Birthdate: January 3, 1831
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Naigaon, British India (now in Satara district, Maharashtra)
Died: March 10, 1887

Savitribai Phule was a revolutionary social reformer who dedicated her life to educate girls and bring about gender equality in the face of resistance from the conservative Indian society. Phule, who was illiterate till her marriage, went on to become a teacher, a feat considered first by an Indian woman. With her husband, she established schools for girls in Maharashtra.

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 5 
Anne Sullivan
(Educator)
Anne Sullivan
19
Birthdate: April 14, 1866
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Agawam, Massachusetts, United States
Died: October 20, 1936
 6 
Jaime Escalante
(Bolivian-American Math Instructor)
Jaime Escalante
9
Birthdate: December 31, 1930
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: La Paz, Bolivia
Died: March 20, 2010

Jaime Escalante  was a Bolivian-American educator. He is best remembered for teaching calculus to students at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles from 1974 to 1991. He had an illustrious career and was a much-respected figure in teaching.  The film Stand and Deliver is based on his life. He received Presidential Medal for Excellence in Education in 1988. 

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 7 
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi
(Baroque Composer & Virtuoso Violinist Known for His Violin Concertos 'The Four Seasons')
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi
10
Birthdate: March 4, 1678
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Venice, Italy
Died: July 28, 1741

Italian Baroque composer, virtuoso violinist, and teacher, Antonio Lucio Vivaldi, is regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers. He was extremely popular during his lifetime and composed many instrumental concertos and operas. He was also a Roman Catholic priest and worked at a home for abandoned children. Even though he died in 1741, his music continues to be popular.

 8 
Christa McAuliffe
(American Astronaut Who was Killed on the Space Shuttle 'Challenger' on Mission STS-51-L)
Christa McAuliffe
8
Birthdate: September 2, 1948
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Died: January 28, 1986

Christa McAuliffe was an American astronaut and teacher who died while serving as a payload specialist on board Space Shuttle Challenger, which exploded during STS-51-L. McAuliffe was all set to become the first teacher in space as she was part of the NASA Teacher in Space Project. In 2004, she was posthumously honored with the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

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 9 
Maria Montessori
(Italian Educator and Founder of the 'Montessori Method of Education')
Maria Montessori
18
Birthdate: August 1, 1870
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Chiaravalle, Italy
Died: April 30, 1952

Maria Montessori was an Italian educator and physician best known for developing the Montessori method of education, a student-friendly method, which is being used in several public and private schools around the world. In 2020, she was nominated by Time magazine as one of their Top 100 Women of the year.

 10 
Ralph Nader
(American Lawyer and Politician Known for His Involvement in Consumer Protection and Environmentalism)
Ralph Nader
8
Birthdate: February 27, 1934
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Winsted, Connecticut, United States
Ralph Nader’s book Unsafe at Any Speed was his critique of the safety measures of U.S. automobile manufacturers. His activism has led to the passage of acts such as the Consumer Product Safety Act. One of Time’s 100 Most Influential Americans, he inspired the documentary An Unreasonable Man
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 11 
James Naismith
(The Inventor of the Game of 'Basketball')
James Naismith
7
Birthdate: November 6, 1861
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Almonte, Mississippi Mills, Canada
Died: November 28, 1939
Canadian-American physician and coach James Naismith is considered as the inventor of basketball. He authored the first basksetball rule book and established the University of Kansas basketball team. He served as the Kansas Jayhawks athletic director and coach, and trained legends such as Adolph Rupp and Dean Smith.
 12 
Brigitte Macron
(Former Educator and Wife of Emmanuel Macron, President of France)
Brigitte Macron
10
Birthdate: April 13, 1953
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Amiens, France

Wife of French President Emmanuel Macron, Brigitte Macron was, interestingly, her husband’s literature and theater teacher at Lycée la Providence. She was the chief strategist during Macron’s 2016-2017 election. Twenty-four years Macron’s senior, Brigitte, was to be the official “First Lady” of France, until a signature campaign thwarted such plans. 

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 13 
Stedman Graham
(American Educator, Author, Businessman Public Speaker and Long-Term Partner of Oprah Winfrey)
Stedman Graham
13
Birthdate: March 6, 1951
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Middle Township, New Jersey, United States
Stedman Graham is known to people as the partner of legendary talk show host Oprah Winfrey. He owns the marketing firm S. Graham & Associates and has also authored many business and self-help books, taught at Full Sail University, and spoken at various events. He owns a non-profit, too.
 14 
Margaret Sanger
(Birth Control Activist Who Opened the First Birth Control Clinic in the United States)
Margaret Sanger
10
Birthdate: September 14, 1879
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Corning, New York, United States
Died: September 6, 1966

Margaret Sanger was an American writer and sex educator. She is credited with popularizing the term birth control. A birth control activist, Sanger established the first birth control clinic in America. She also set up organizations that later became the well-known non-profit organization Planned Parenthood Federation of America. She also played a key role in legalizing contraception in the US.

 15 
Betty Shabazz
(Educator and Activist Best Known as the Wife of African-American Activist Malcolm X)
Betty Shabazz
13
Birthdate: May 28, 1934
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Pinehurst, Georgia, United States
Died: June 23, 1997

Civil rights activist and educator Betty Shabazz, or Betty X, was the wife of Black nationalist leader Malcolm X. Raised by her adoptive parents in Detroit, she met Malcolm X at a Nation of Islam event in Harlem. She died when her apartment was set on fire set by her grandson.

 16 
Sonya Curry
(American Educator and Mother of Basketball Players ‘Stephen Curry’ and ‘Seth Curry’)
Sonya Curry
13
Birthdate: May 30, 1966
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Radford, Virginia, United States

The wife of NBA star Dell Curry and the mother of basketball players Seth and Stephen Curry, Sonya Curry grew up amid poverty and often had racist encounters with the Ku Klux Klan. Once a star volleyball player at Virginia Tech, she now heads the Christian Montessori School founded by her.

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 17 
Jean Piaget
(Swiss Psychologist Known for His Work on Child Development)
Jean Piaget
8
Birthdate: August 9, 1896
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Died: September 16, 1980
Swiss psychologist and academic Jean Piaget is remembered for his work on child development and genetic epistemology, consisting of his theory of cognitive development. He also established the International Center for Genetic Epistemology and was the director of the International Bureau of Education. He was an honorary Harvard doctorate.
 18 
Isaac Asimov
(Writer Best Known for His Hard Science Fiction Novels and Professor of Biochemistry)
Isaac Asimov
10
Birthdate: January 2, 1920
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Petrovichi, Russia
Died: April 6, 1992

Isaac Asimov was an American writer. Best known for his science fiction works, Asimov was regarded as one of the Big Three writers along with Arthur C. Clarke and Robert A. Heinlein. Asimov is credited with influencing most sci-fi writers since the 1950s. Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman stated that one of Asimov's works inspired him to take up Economics.

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 19 
Richard Feynman
(One of the Joint Winners of Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965)
Richard Feynman
11
Birthdate: May 11, 1918
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: New York, New York, United States
Died: February 15, 1988

Theoretical physicist Richard Feynman won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965, along with Julian Schwinger and Shin'ichirō Tomonaga, for his research on quantum electrodynamics. He also contributed to the development of the atomic bomb. Feyman made it to Physics World’s list of the 10 greatest physicists of all time.

 20 
Franz Liszt
(Composer, Pianist and Teacher of the Romantic Era)
Franz Liszt
8
Birthdate: October 22, 1811
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Raiding, Austria
Died: July 31, 1886

Franz Liszt was a Hungarian composer, conductor, arranger, music teacher, and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic era. Considered one of the greatest pianists ever, Liszt's works influenced his contemporaries and successors alike. Perhaps his greatest legacy is his work as a teacher, although his rich body of work might suggest otherwise; he taught people like Karl Klindworth among other pianists.

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 21 
Jane Elliott
(Educator Known for Her ‘Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes’ Exercise)
Jane Elliott
10
Birthdate: November 30, 1933
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Riceville, Iowa, United States

Jane Elliott is an American schoolteacher best known for inventing and popularizing the Blue eyes/Brown eyes exercise. The exercise, which was first conducted on April 5, 1968, with her third-grade class, aims at helping people understand the ill-effects of racial discrimination. The classroom exercise has inspired a couple of documentaries namely The Eye of the Storm and The Angry Eye.  

 22 
John G. Trump
(Scientist)
John G. Trump
16
Birthdate: August 21, 1907
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: New York, New York, United States
Died: February 21, 1985

Better known as former U.S. president Donald Trump’s uncle, John G. Trump was an MIT physicist and engineer. Though he had initially aspired to be an architect and join his brother Fred’s real-estate business, John later concentrated on his research that led to the invention of high-voltage generators.

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 23 
Ruth Westheimer
(German-American Sex Therapist, Media Personality and Holocaust Survivor)
Ruth Westheimer
8
Birthdate: June 4, 1928
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Frankfurt am Main, Germany
German-American sex therapist Ruth Westheimer, also known as Dr. Ruth, soared to fame with the radio show Sexually Speaking and later hosted many sexuality-related shows and wrote many books, too. She is also an ethnographer and a Holocaust survivor. Her life inspired the documentary Ask Dr. Ruth.
 24 
Peter Drucker
(Management Consultant)
Peter Drucker
7
Birthdate: November 19, 1909
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Vienna, Austria
Died: November 11, 2005
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 25 
Lola Van Wagenen
(Historian and Co-Founder of ‘Consumer Action Now’)
Lola Van Wagenen
5
Birthdate: 1938
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Provo, Utah, United States

Lola Van Wagenen is an American historian who is credited with co-founding non-profit educational organizations like Consumer Action Now (CAN) and Clio Visualizing History, Inc. Consumer Action Now went on to establish several environmental education and consumer-oriented programs in an attempt to raise awareness about the effects of consumers' buying habits on the environment.

 26 
Aaron Copland
(Composer, Teacher)
Aaron Copland
9
Birthdate: November 14, 1900
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York, United States
Died: December 2, 1990
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 27 
Ennis Cosby
(Teacher)
Ennis Cosby
6
Birthdate: April 15, 1969
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, United States
Died: January 16, 1997

The only son of comedian Bill Cosby, Ennis Cosby made headlines when he was shot dead at 27, in an attempted robbery on a deserted Southern California road. He was dyslexic and discussed his disability with the children he taught as a student-teacher at the Alfred E. Smith Elementary School.

 28 
Coyote Peterson
(Wildlife Educator & YouTuber)
Coyote Peterson
8
Birthdate: September 1, 1981
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Newbury Center, Ohio, United States
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 29 
Wynton Marsalis
(Trumpeter)
Wynton Marsalis
5
Birthdate: October 18, 1961
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
 30 
Tom Laughlin
(Actor)
Tom Laughlin
6
Birthdate: August 10, 1931
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Died: December 12, 2013
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 31 
Antonio Salieri
(Italian Classical Composer, Conductor, and Teacher)
Antonio Salieri
7
Birthdate: August 18, 1750
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Legnago, Italy
Died: May 7, 1825

Antonio Salieri was an Italian classical composer, conductor, and teacher considered a key figure in the development of late 18th-century opera. He was a protégé of eminent composer Christoph Willibald Gluck. For several years, he served as the director of the Italian opera by the Habsburg court. His works were performed widely across Europe during his lifetime. 

 32 
Arnold Schoenberg
(One of the Most Influential Composers of the 20th Century)
Arnold Schoenberg
7
Birthdate: September 13, 1874
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Leopoldstadt, Vienna, Austria
Died: July 13, 1951
Austrian-born composer Arnold Schoenberg was part of the German Expressionist Movement and led the Second Viennese School. Being Jewish, he was banned by the Nazis and later became an American citizen. Known for his twelve-tone technique, he coined the term developing variation and formed motifs without a centralized melodic idea.
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 33 
Paulo Freire
(Educator and Philosopher)
Paulo Freire
7
Birthdate: September 19, 1921
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Recife, Brazil
Died: May 2, 1997
An advocate of critical consciousness as a form of pedagogy, Paulo Freire grew up amid abject poverty in a Depression-hit Brazil. Remembered for his iconic work Pedagogy of the Oppressed, the revered educator who supported dialogic education had also won accolades such as the UNESCO Prize for Peace Education.
 34 
Stephen Covey
(Educator, Author)
Stephen Covey
5
Birthdate: October 24, 1932
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
Died: July 16, 2012
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 35 
Erin Murphy
(Actress)
Erin Murphy
8
Birthdate: June 17, 1964
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Encino, California, USA
 36 
Cheng Yen
(Buddhist nun, Philanthropist)
Cheng Yen
7
Birthdate: May 14, 1937
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Taichung City, Taiwan
 37 
Mamie Till
(American Civil Rights Activist, Who Lost Her Son 'Emmett Till' to a Racist Attack)
Mamie Till
5
Birthdate: November 23, 1921
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Webb, Mississippi, United States
Died: January 6, 2003

Following the violent lynching of 14-year-old Emmett Till by a group of white men, his mother Mamie Till-Mobley made a marked contribution to the fight against racism. She became a prominent civil rights activist and established the Emmett Till Players, a group that lectured on hope and unity.

 38 
Joshua Chamberlain
(Educator & War Hero)
Joshua Chamberlain
4
Birthdate: September 8, 1828
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Brewer
Died: February 24, 1914
 39 
Horace Mann
(Educator & Politician)
Horace Mann
4
Birthdate: May 4, 1796
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Franklin
Died: August 2, 1859
 40 
Timothy Francis Leary
(American Psychologist and Writer Known for His Strong Advocacy of Psychedelic Drugs)
Timothy Francis Leary
10
Birthdate: October 22, 1920
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Springfield, Massachusetts, United States
Died: May 31, 1996

Psychologist and former Harvard professor Timothy Leary was an advocate of psychedelic drugs. His research experiments included the controversial Concord Prison Experiment and Marsh Chapel Experiment. After being fired from Harvard for his actions, he continued promoting his theories through catchphrases such as “turn on, tune in, drop out.”

 41 
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
(Essayist and Mathematical Statistician Best Known for His Books: ‘The Black Swan’ and ‘Antifragile’)
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
9
Birthdate: 1960 AD
Birthplace: Amioun, Lebanon
Lebanese-American scholar and statistician Nassim Nicholas Taleb is known for his work on risk management through uncertainty and probability. His five-volume essay Incerto included his bestselling book The Black Swan. Named to Forbes’s Most Influential Management Gurus list, he is the co-editor-in-chief of the academic journal Risk and Decision Analysis.
 42 
Johann Pachelbel
(One of the Most Influential Composers and Organists of the Middle Baroque Era)
Johann Pachelbel
5
Birthdate: 1653 AD
Birthplace: Nuremberg, Germany
Died: March 7, 1706

Johann Pachelbel was a German composer, teacher, and organist who is credited with helping the south German organ schools achieve their peak. His contributions to the progression of the fugue and chorale prelude have established him as one of the most prominent composers of the middle Baroque era. During his lifetime, his music became a model for several German composers.

 43 
Graça Machel
(First Lady of Mozambique (1975-1986), First Lady of South Africa (1998-1999))
Graça Machel
5
Birthdate: October 17, 1945
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Gaza Province, Mozambique

Graça Machel is known for her association with Mozambique’s FRELIMO movement and has been the country’s first education minister. She has also been married to both former Mozambican president Samora Machel and South African president Nelson Mandela. Through The Elders, she is devoted to working for women’s and children’s rights.

 44 
Benjamin Graham
(Economist, Investor)
Benjamin Graham
4
Birthdate: May 8, 1894
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: London, England
Died: September 21, 1976
 45 
Marilyn Milian
(Judge, TV personality)
Marilyn Milian
7
Birthdate: May 1, 1961
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Astoria, New York, United States
 46 
Jim Tressel
(Coach)
Jim Tressel
4
Birthdate: December 5, 1952
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Mentor, Ohio, United States
 47 
Adam Nimoy
(Director)
Adam Nimoy
6
Birthdate: August 9, 1956
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, USA
 48 
Edward Said
(American Professor of Literature and Founder of the Academic Field of Postcolonial Studies)
Edward Said
6
Birthdate: November 1, 1935
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Mandatory Palestine
Died: September 25, 2003
 49 
Ali Kemal
(Minister of the Interior of the Ottoman Empire in 1919)
Ali Kemal
8
Birthdate: September 7, 1867
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Fatih, Turkey
Died: November 6, 1922

Ali Kemal was a Turkish journalist, poet, newspaper editor, government official, and liberal-leaning politician. He is best remembered for his brief service as the Minister of the Interior of the Ottoman Empire in 1919. During the Turkish War of Independence, Ali Kemal was assassinated by paramilitary officers.

 50 
Gad Saad
(Canadian Professor and Youtuber Known for Applying Evolutionary Psychology to Marketing and Consumer Behaviour)
Gad Saad
4
Birthdate: October 13, 1964
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Beirut, Lebanon

Lebanese-Canadian evolutionary-psychologist Gad Saad is best-known for applying evolutionary-psychology to marketing and consumer behaviour. He is a professor of marketing at Concordia University, an advisory fellow for the Centre for Inquiry Canada, and the Concordia University Research Chairman in Evolutionary Behavioural Sciences and Darwinian Consumption. He hosts the YouTube channel The Saad Truth and writes a blog for Psychology Today.