IN MEMORIAM
Benno Schmidt MARCH 20, 1942 – JULY 9, 2023
As Chairman of Baret Scholars’ Advisory Board, Benno played an invaluable role in the creation of Baret. His spirit will always guide our work. During his storied and stellar career, Benno Schmidt had a profound impact on education around the world. In higher education, he rose rapidly to serve as Dean of Columbia University Law School and, then, President of Yale. For over a decade, he served as Chairman of the City University of New York, one of the largest university systems in the world. Mid-career, Benno shifted his focus to push for reform in America’s public schools. He co-founded Edison Schools, a pioneering entity in the US charter school movement. Under his leadership, Edison built 100 of the first charter schools in over 50 cities enrolling over 60,000 students. Over the past decade, he was a leader in international education. He co-founded Avenues: The World School. Avenues’ first campus is now one of the largest private schools in NYC, and it was followed by campuses in São Paulo, Shenzhen and Silicon Valley. At Whittle School & Studios he helped to found major K-12 schools in Shenzhen and Suzhou. In the early days of Baret Scholars, he played a pivotal role in selecting our global route and shaping the content of our program, especially our Fellowships.
Students of the World
We miss him greatly.
THIRD EDITION, JANUARY 2025
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