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Stephen Dyer

Education Policy Fellow

Stephen Dyer, Education Policy Fellow, has authored several reports for IO that have sought to ensure the fundamental right of every Ohio child to a world-class education. He recently spent a year as a fellow with the Education Policy Fellowship Program through the Institute for Educational Leadership in Washington, D.C. and served as part of an American delegation to observe the Chinese education system in Shanghai and Beijing. Dyer also is a Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Akron, where he has received accolades for his classroom teaching. Dyer has spent his career serving his community, first as an award-winning journalist with the Akron Beacon Journal, then as an award-winning State Representative representing Ohio’s Summit and Portage counties. He collaborated on an innovative project called “Ohio: Look at the State We’re In” that analyzed where Ohio ranked on various quality of life issues. That collaboration earned Dyer and two other reporters nominations for the 2003 Pulitzer Prize. Dyer grew up in Hudson, Ohio, and attended Western Reserve Academy, where his parents taught. He graduated from Tufts University in Massachusetts with a Bachelor’s Degree in English, earned a Master’s Degree in journalism from Kent State University and a law degree from the University of Akron. He lives in Green with his wife of 16 years, Melissa, and his two sons, Logan, 10, and Carson, 6, both of whom attend Green Local Schools.