Rudy Crew
Rudolph Franklin "Rudy" Crew (born September 10, 1950) is an American educator, academic administrator, and former government employee who currently serves as President of Medgar Evers College.[2] Appointed by Governor John Kitzhaber, Crew oversaw the integrated public education system in Oregon from pre-kindergarten through college and career readiness.[4] Crew was born on September 10, 1950, in Poughkeepsie, New York[5] His mother died when he was two years old; his father, Eugene, a jazz trumpeter and night watchman, raised him.[2] He left to lead the school system at Tacoma, Washington,[9] where test scores improved during his tenure, drawing the attention of the New York City Board of Education, which had had six chancellors in ten years.[15] There has been substantial academic research on changes to oversight in New York City that indicate Crew's creation of a more autonomous "Chancellor's District" was effective turning around failing schools.[28] The Greater-Miami Chamber of Commerce stated that Crew's success was reflected in the District's performance on the FCAT, which continues a trend that adds up to significant improvement over the last five years.[27] At a June 2008 Miami-Dade County school board meeting, Crew said the district had overspent millions of dollars during the past two years because it had hired more teachers than budgeted, lost state funding, and encountered rising costs.[2] One year into his three-year commitment with the state, Crew resigned as Chief Education Officer when he accepted the position to lead Medgar Evers College, City University of New York, in Brooklyn.