Robert Parris Moses

About Robert's Work

Robert Parris Moses is an educator and a philosopher.

Moses began his career by developing community leadership and self-support among blacks in the rural South.  To challenge the State’s system of segregation, he conceived and shaped the Mississippi Summer Project in 1964, which was involved in the nonviolent crusade for human justice.  He has worked with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and has provided leadership to the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.  Moses later taught and worked for the Tanzanian Ministry of Education, where he was active in the development of secondary schools (1965-75).  In his teaching and writing, Moses has remained committed to the promotion and understanding of philosophical ideals and their integration with the processes of social change.

Biography

As a visiting fellow at the Iliff School of Theology, Moses concentrated on issues of spirituality and social transformation.  In 1982, he created the Algebra Project to assist rural and inner-city students to achieve math literacy and to help train to teachers, administrators, and community activists to be math coaches.  He is an eminent scholar at the Center for Urban Education and Innovation at Florida International University.

Moses received an A.B. (1956) from Hamilton College and an M.A. (1957) from Harvard University.

Last updated January 1, 2005.