V. T. Thayer

Vivian Trow Thayer (1886–1979) is best known as a Progressive educator who authored many books about <a href="/facts/American_education/84lQqU0q">American education</a>. He was married to Florence Amelia Adams.
Thayer was born in Nebraska and raised in rural Wisconsin. Thayer's father worked as a minister, rural mail-carrier, and farmer. The economic challenges of Thayer's early life impacted his sensitivity to the struggle of others later in his career. He attended <a href="/facts/Carroll_University/nVN0SkA9">Carroll Academy</a>, and then moved to the <a href="/facts/University_of_Wisconsin_at_Madison/Rfj54YvS">University of Wisconsin at Madison</a>, where he received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in philosophy. While pursuing his degrees, Thayer worked to support himself through employment first as an attendant at a sanitarium, then in a restaurant, and later waiting tables in a boarding house. At one point, financial constraints forced him to take a two-year leave from the university and serve first as principal of an elementary school, and later as Superintendent of Schools, in <a href="/facts/Ashland%2c_Wisconsin/yedUmaCT">Ashland, Wisconsin</a>.
During his tenure as Educational Director of the <a href="/facts/Ethical_Culture_Fieldston_School/tov1EDCE">Ethical Culture Schools</a> in New York City from 1928–1948, Thayer was involved with the <a href="/facts/Progressive_Education_Association/quAKQtnj">Progressive Education Association</a>. His role and work in the <a href="/facts/Eight-Year_Study/BBT4nLWI">Eight-Year Study</a> led to the formation of a second commission which he chaired: the Commission on the Secondary School Curriculum. The results of the commission were published in Reorganizing Secondary Education (1939).
Thayer is associated with the educational philosophy of <a href="/facts/John_Dewey/ljz3mzpf">John Dewey</a>, and worked with many leading Progressive educators. Among others were <a href="/facts/Boyd_H._Bode/6RCcLEx7">Boyd H. Bode</a>, <a href="/facts/Horace_Kallen/vJN39QrL">Horace Kallen</a>, and Harold Alberty. Thayer lectured and taught at many universities, including Teacher's College, Columbia University; Harvard University; Ohio State University; the University of Hawaii; the University of Virginia; and Johns Hopkins University.
In 1933, Thayer was one of the original signories of the <a href="/facts/Humanist_Manifesto/xtAFo6aE">Humanist Manifesto</a> (I). He served in editorial positions for the <a href="/facts/The_American_Review_(literary_journal)/Qy9UKl2m">American Review</a> and the <a href="/facts/Journal_of_Educational_Research/jrf4xYex">Journal of Educational Research</a>. Thayer was named a <a href="/facts/Kappa_Delta_Pi/K9oSMVJN">Kappa Delta Pi</a> Laureate, Pioneer Humanist of the Year (1964) by the <a href="/facts/American_Humanist_Association/YD16Ibwz">American Humanist Association</a>, and in 1969 received the Distinguished Lifetime Service to Education award from <a href="/facts/John_Dewey_Society/ou5zAo7W">The John Dewey Society</a>.

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V. T. Thayer