David B. Tyack, an influential education historian, died Oct. 27 at age 85.
Tyack was the Vida Jacks professor of education and professor of history, emeritus, at Stanford University, where he had taught since 1968.
A passionate advocate of the civic purposes of schools, he documented shifting political allegiances in education in such books as The One Best System: A History of American Urban Education (1974), Tinkering Toward Utopia: A Century of Public School Reform (co-authored with Larry Cuban, 1995), and Seeking Common Ground: Public Schools in a Diverse Society (2007).
He was a frequent essayist on education and public policy, including for Education Week.
Tyack was a former president of the History Education Society and a former vice president of the American Educational Research Association, among other professional affiliations.
Before going to Stanford, Tyack taught at the University of Illinois and at Reed College.
