Abraham Flexner, American Educator
Abraham Flexner (November 13, 1866 - September 21, 1959) was an American educator and younger brother of medical researcher Simon Flexner. In his first book, The American College, he criticized many aspects of American higher education. He was especially critical of the university lecture as a method of instruction. Two years later, he published the Flexner Report, which examined the state of American medical education and led to far-reaching reforms in the way doctors were trained. The Flexner report led to the closure of most rural medical schools and all but two of America's African American medical colleges. With Louis Bamberger, Flexner founded the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, heading it from 1930 to 1939 and overseeing a faculty that included Kurt G"del and John von Neumann. During his time there, Flexner helped to bring over many European scientists who would likely have suffered persecution at the hands of the rising Nazi government. Flexner even penned the letter inviting Albert Einstein to the Institute and to the United States. He died in 1959 at the age of 93
