Walter Feinberg, a professor of Philosophy of Education at the University of Illinois in Urbana, was born on August 22, 1937 in Boston, Massachusetts.

He is married to Eleanor (Kemler) Feinberg and they have two children. He has held appointments in the College of Medicine and the School of Humanities. Professor Feinberg completed his Ph.D. in philosophy at Boston University in 1965 where he was an NDEA Fellow in Philosophy of Education and a Human Relations Fellow. He received a B.A. with honors in Philosophy and Political Science from the same university in 1960. Prior to coming to the University of Illinois he taught at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan.

Feinberg's scholarship focuses on the relationship between democracy, work and education. His first book, Reason and Rhetoric: The Intellectual Foundations of Twentieth Century Educational Reform (John Wiley, 1975) examined the concept of equality of educational opportunity and its relation to liberal educational reform. The book was selected by Choice as one of the outstanding books to be published in 1975.

In two subsequent books Feinberg argues that traditional models of educational scholarship work against the development of a critical perspective and fail to capture the importance of communal norms. In Understanding Education (Cambridge University Press, 1983) he proposes that the primary focus of educational research should be the construction of group identities across generations and the various ways in which these identities are maintained and interrupted. The book also proposes an interdisciplinary program for educational studies and offers suggestions for highlighting the many value questions involved in the construction of identity. In the introductory essays to the different sections in Knowledge and Values in Social and Educational Research (Temple University Press, 1982) Feinberg and the co-editor analyze different research methods in terms of their ability to enhance our understanding of the value implications of competing educational programs.

Professor Feinberg's book, Japan and the Quest for a New American Identity: Work and Education in a Multicultural Age, Routledge, 1993, draws upon interviews with Japanese and American mothers, workers, teachers, and business leaders, who have experienced both cultures. From these interviews the author develops an extended essay on the moral implications of the evolving international climate for education, work and democratic life. He has two books forthcoming: On Higher Ground: Education and the Case for Affirmative Action, Columbia University, Teachers College Press, expected Fall., 1997, defends the policy of racial and gender based affirmative action against recent criticisms. Common Schools Uncommon Identities: National Unity/Cultural Difference, Yale University Press, expected Fall, 1998, addresses the issue whether public education has a responsibility to aid cultural subgroups maintain their collective identity.

Professor Feinberg has received a number of awards and honors in addition to those mentioned earlier. He was a University of Illinois Faculty Fellow (1968). He has been appointed on two separate occasions to the Bureau of Educational Research at the University of Illinois (1977-1980 and 1986-1989), and was named by the College of Education a Senior Scholar in recognition of his outstanding research. His research has also been recognized by the University of Illinois when, in 1990, he was appointed an Associate in the Center of Advance Study. He has also served as an Associate of the Boston University Center for the Philosophy and History of Science (1981) and as a Fellow of the Academy of Korean Studies (1985). Most recently he served as the University of Chicago's the Benton Scholar for the 1995-1996 year.