Henry Chauncey

Reviews / Votes

<<'Henry Chauncey: An American Life' is a painstaking biography of a remarkable man and his ancestors. As the first president of the Educational Testing Service, Chauncey oversaw the rapid growth of an organization that touched the lives of millions of students who took entrance examinations required by undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools. From its early focus on college admissions, ETS expanded its scope to encompass vocational guidance, school counseling, financial aid, draft deferments, personality assessment, and other areas. As Chauncey told his former Harvard classmates in 1953, 'there are large areas to be explored' by this 'infant science.' If Chauncey had been a businessman, one colleague later said, he would have been an excellent venture capitalist.
To some skeptics, ETS was a 'semi-sinister organization on 400 acres of beautiful country in New Jersey... [with] little warrens of statistical sadists who are constantly inventing things to make kids unhappy.' Those critics should read this book. Rather than feature heroes and villains, Elliot offers an even-handed analysis of the hopes and fears of the pioneers of a promising new field.>> (Robert L. Hampel, University of Delaware) <<'Henry Chauncey: An American Life' is a painstaking biography of a remarkable man and his ancestors. As the first president of the Educational Testing Service, Chauncey oversaw the rapid growth of an organization that touched the lives of millions of students who took entrance examinations required by undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools. From its early focus on college admissions, ETS expanded its scope to encompass vocational guidance, school counseling, financial aid, draft deferments, personality assessment, and other areas. As Chauncey told his former Harvard classmates in 1953, 'there are large areas to be explored' by this 'infant science.' If Chauncey had been a businessman, one colleague later said, he would have been an excellent venture capitalist.
To some skeptics, ETS was a 'semi-sinister organization on 400 acres of beautiful country in New Jersey... [with] little warrens of statistical sadists who are constantly inventing things to make kids unhappy.' Those critics should read this book. Rather than feature heroes and villains, Elliot offers an even-handed analysis of the hopes and fears of the pioneers of a promising new field.>> (Robert L. Hampel, University of Delaware)