Lee Shulman, influential education scholar and beloved former Stanford GSE professor, dies at 86

Lee Shulman, an educational psychologist and professor emeritus at Stanford Graduate School of Education (GSE), died on Dec. 30, 2024, at Moldaw Residences, a senior living community in Palo Alto. He was 86.

Shulman, who came to Stanford in 1982 and was named the Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education, had a transformative influence on the field of education through his research emphasizing the importance of teachers’ understanding of both pedagogy and content.

Among colleagues and friends, he was celebrated as someone with a brilliant mind for research, a humble approach to collaboration, and a compassionate heart.

“His whole career was committed to understanding and improving the teaching force and supporting teachers around the world,” said Richard Shavelson, former dean of the GSE and Margaret Jacks Professor of Education, emeritus.

“He had great respect for teachers’ capacity to take both scientific and conceptual knowledge of teaching to be able to work with each and every kid, to teach them and let them thrive,” Shavelson said.

A “giant” in the field of education

In academic circles, Shulman was best known for developing the concept of pedagogical content knowledge, the idea that in addition to knowing the subject matter and how to teach it, teachers need to know how to adapt the content to students’ understanding.

“It’s hard to overemphasize his impact on education,” said Pam Grossman, PhD ‘88, Nomellini and Olivier professor of education, emerita, at the GSE and a former student of Shulman’s. “Lee was brilliant at understanding and naming these ideas that transformed the field, and he was really part of the cognitive turn in educational research — looking not just at teacher actions or behaviors, but at teacher thinking and knowledge.”

Shulman was also highly regarded for his research related to teaching and learning in professions such as law, medicine, nursing, and engineering, including how practitioners are trained in various fields and how this preparation later shapes how they practice.

“He’s a giant of the field of education, known around the world because he introduced some very basic concepts in educational literature,” said Rachel Lotan, MA ‘81, PhD ‘85, a professor emerita of education and former director of the Stanford Teacher Education Program (STEP).

“What I so admired in him was his incredible, vast knowledge in so many fields, and how he came to learn so much about the knowledge base of so many professions,” she said.

After retiring from Stanford in 1997, Shulman served as the eighth president for the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, where he continued much of his work around teaching and the professions.

“When Lee became president at Carnegie, it had been very focused on student achievement, and he changed the agenda of the foundation and its personnel,” said Gary Fenstermacher, an educational philosopher and professor emeritus at the University of Michigan, who worked with Shulman at Carnegie.

“Because of all his concern about teaching, he launched a serious study of the professions, and he used a lot of his connections at Stanford to nurture that work,” he said. Lee relocated the foundation’s headquarters from Princeton, N.J., to Palo Alto when he took office. “Carnegie wasn’t on the Stanford campus when he took over, but the fact he got it there was pretty extraordinary.”

A colleague, coach and companion to many

Shulman was born on Sept. 28, 1938, to Jewish immigrants who owned a small delicatessen on the northwest side of Chicago. 

He received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Chicago, then taught as a professor of educational psychology at Michigan State University, from 1963 to 1982, before coming to Stanford.

Although he was an only child, he became family to many, including an academic brotherhood that included Shulman, Fenstermacher, Shavelson and David Berliner, PhD ‘68, a fellow educational psychologist and professor emeritus at Arizona State University.

The four, along with their wives, would go on trips and celebrate birthdays together for three decades of close-knit friendship.

“When you’re a teenager, you have bosom buddies and close friends, and when you’re a professional, you have colleagues,” Berliner said. “What was so perfect about the intellectual friendships of the men was that we managed to break out of being just colleagues and become close friends.”

To students he was known for asking tough questions, championing their work, and encouraging them to collaborate with others. 

“He was constantly trying to get me connected to the larger academic community, so that I would be part of it and nurtured in it,” said one of his former students, Karen Hammerness, PhD ‘99, now senior education research director at the American Museum of Natural History. “This was because he sees scholarship as a community and believes that ideas are collective.” 

He received many rewards for his academic contributions, including the American Psychological Association’s E.L. Thorndike Award for Career Achievement in Educational Psychology in 1995, the Grawemeyer Award in Education in 2006, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Association for College of Teacher Education in 2008.

To everyone who knew him, especially friends and family, he was a foodie, an entertainer, and an excellent storyteller.

“The biggest thing he taught me, and that I’m going to take forward, is his big heart,” said Dina Shulman, his daughter. “He had so much success, but he really was always kind and respectful to everyone. Amid all of his professional accolades and everything he accomplished, he was still just the best dad.”

Shulman is survived by his three children, Allen, Dan, and Dina Shulman; five grandchildren, Joey, Jordy, Becky, Sarah, and Sam; and one great-grandchild, Norah Shulman. 

He was preceded in death by his wife and fellow scholar Judy Horwitz Shulman, who founded the Institute for Case Development in Education, a global resource for educators.

Those who wish to donate in his memory can send contributions to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Stanford Hospital Jewish Chaplaincy, or the Camp Ramah Tikvah program in Ojai, Calif.