Adam Urbanski

A former high school teacher and college professor, Adam Urbanski has been a national leader in education reform. As president of the Rochester (N.Y.) Teachers Association, he proposed and designed an internship program for new teachers, a peer review and intervention plan, a career ladder, an innovative Living Contract approach to collective bargaining, and a homework hotline for students.

In addition to serving on the AFT executive council, Urbanski is a member of the AFT executive committee and the AFT democracy committee. He also serves on the board of directors and executive committee of the New York State United Teachers.

Urbanski was the founding director of the Teacher Union Reform Network (TURN), an organization aimed at creating a new vision of teachers unions that supports needed changes in education. He was a trustee of the National Center for Education and the Economy and a senior associate to the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future. He has served in an advisory capacity to many professional and community organizations, including the advisory board of Harvard University’s National Center for Educational Leadership, the policy working group at the Annenberg Institute for School Reform and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

A native of Poland, Urbanski immigrated to the United States in 1960. He is the author of numerous published articles and has been honored with the Phi Delta Kappa Leadership in Education Award; the Hutchinson Medal Award for Distinguished Public Service from the University of Rochester; and an honorary doctorate from the State University of New York, Oswego. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and a Ph.D. in American social history, both from the University of Rochester.