Eminent Educators is the first book of its kind. Focusing on the four intellectual giants of the 20th century—John Dewey, Howard Gardner, Carol Gilligan, and John Ogbu—the book provides biographical information and analysis of their intellectual contributions. Each of these individuals caused a major paradigm shift in American education with their intellectual influence, and each, in their unique contribution indelibly shaped education for the better.

Each educator represents one aspect of that most American of educational philosophies: Progressive Education. Progressive educators sought to educate the whole child: intellectually, morally, socially, and aesthetically. In Eminent Educators, Dewey represents two aspects of Progressive Education, intellectually and aesthetically; Gardner redefined intelligence; Gilligan probed the moral development of girls/women; and Ogbu remapped the education of African Americans, thus representing the social change aspect of Progressive Education.