Bigelow, Donald N. (Donald Nevius)

Donald Nevius Bigelow was a key administrator in dozens of significant programs within the U.S. Department of Education in a government career of more than forty years. Bigelow was born in Danbury, Conn., on August 19, 1918. He was educated at Danbury High School, Amherst College (B.A., 1939; M.A., history, 1945), and Columbia University (Ph.D., history, 1950).

As an education administrator beginning in 1961, Bigelow's work focused on campaigns to improve the quality of grade school teachers, to train better guidance counselors, and to establish closer partnerships between universities and public schools. He oversaw many key education programs during a period of the Cold War known as the "Space Race," when the U.S. and Soviet Union were in competition for supremacy in space exploration, a competition which is generally acknowledged to have been initiated by the Soviets' launch of the first artificial satellite Sputnik 1 in 1957. Within a few years in the Education Department, Bigelow was leading programs to enhance science, mathematics and foreign language instruction and research, considered vital for the nation's defense.

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