Michael Poliakoff is the President of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA). He is a former Rhodes Scholar and has taught at Georgetown University, Hillsdale College, University of Illinois at Chicago, George Washington University, and Wellesley College. In recognition of his dedication to pedagogy he received the American Philological Association’s Excellence in Teaching Award and the Pennsylvania Department of Education's Distinguished Service to Education Award. His background is in the Classics; he was formerly a junior fellow at the Center for Hellenic Studies and received research support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the German Academic Exchange Service, and the Alexander Von Humboldt Foundation. The topics of his many books and articles range from sport in Greek, Roman, and Near Eastern civilization to academic reform and educational policy. Before coming to ACTA he served as Vice President for Academic Affairs and Research at the University of Colorado and Director of the Endowment’s Division of Education Programs for the National Endowment for the Humanities. As President of ACTA and director of its What Will They Learn? project he advocates for renewed emphasis on a rigorous liberal arts core curriculum, protection of free expression on campuses, and accountability in grading and evaluation. He is concerned that students are being awarded degrees without having acquired the necessary historical and philosophical grounding to contribute to a world that is itself grounded in the principles and facts of history, science, math, literature, and economics.
