Janet E. Lieberman, Ph.D.
Founder, "The Middle College High School
Co-founder, "The Early College High School at LaGuardia Community College"

For the past thirty years, Dr. Janet Lieberman has believed that you should never underestimate the power of an idea. This belief, combined with the faith that all students can achieve, led her to originate new solutions to old problems resulting in expanded academic opportunities for minority and under privileged students.

In 1974, Dr. Lieberman designed the first public high school college collaborative model to help underserved students graduate from high school and go to college. Her vision of placing a high school on a college campus with smaller classes, committed teachers, intensive counseling and high expectations would keep students in school and encourage them to go on to college. Starting with 100 high school sophomores, Dr. Lieberman proved that students who were placed in a college environment could achieve academically.

Thirty years later, the Middle College High School serves more than 500 students a year. According to recent studies, 80 percent of Middle College High School seniors graduated with high school degrees and 65 percent were expected to attend college.

In 2000, the power of an idea expanded as Dr. Lieberman, collaborating with Cecilia Cunningham, then principal of Middle College High School, created the Early College High School model. This program enables previously underachieving students in grades 11 and 12 to take college courses and complete an A.A. degree in a shortened time frame.

Dr. Lieberman is a special assistant to the President for Educational Collaboratives at LaGuardia Community College. She received her B.A. degree from Barnard College after attending Vassar, her M.A. from City College of NY, and her Ph.D. from New York University. Dr. Lieberman has written two books on creating educational pathways and she is the winner of the Charles A. Dana Award for Innovation in Higher Education in 1989 and the New York University Distinguished Award in 2003. Dr. Lieberman resides in New York City.