John Ward Studebaker

John Ward Studebaker (June 10, 1887-July 26, 1989) served as U.S. Commissioner of Education from 1934 to 1948. He was also Chairman of the U.S. Radio Education Committee. His was the longest tenure of any education commissioner, and he devoted much of his time to children's literacy and arithmetic. He died at age 102 in 1989.

Studebaker was best known, while Commissioner of Education, for his work on public forums. Believing that public discussion as civic education was the key to renewing democracy, he first ran a series of forums in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1932-1934, then instituted the Federal Forum Project, 1936-41 until just before the outbreak of WWII. Studeback published The American Way (1935) and Plain Talk (1936), both of which were influential with Depression era educators.