James Tooley


James Tooley

James Tooley is Professor of Education Policy at Newcastle University and is the founder of The Beautiful Tree Foundation. His work in slum and low-income areas around the world and dedication to private initiatives in education have won him worldwide acclaim and awards. He is the world’s expert on private schools for the poor in developing countries.

 

Tooley was born in the UK in 1959, went to teach mathematics in Zimbabwe to celebrate the new liberation there and fell in love with Africa. Whilst working for the IFC and World Bank in the 1990s, Tooley explored the Old City of Hyderabad and discovered what was to become his life's passion, private schools operated by entrepreneurs dedicated to children and parents desperate to gain an education.

 



Awards

Gold Prize Winner, 1st Financial Times/International Finance Corporation, Private Sector Development Research Paper Competition, September 2006

 

Templeton Prize for Free Market Solutions to Poverty, 1st Prize, March 2006

 

Alexis de Tocqueville Award for the Advancement of Education Freedom, May 2007

 

National Free Enterprise Award, Feb 2007