Abraham Flexner

(1866 - 1959)

A prominent reformer of education, Abraham Flexner conducted a study of American medical schools for the Carnegie Foundation in 1910; in the decade following his report, which proposed new regulations, at least 7 percent of the schools were closed. In 1929 Flexner received a call from some philanthropists asking for advice in funding a new medical school; he convinced them instead to support an Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, which opened the following year under his leadership.