Michael Kirst, professor emeritus at Stanford University, is California’s longest-serving board president, having held the post during both administrations of former Gov. Jerry Brown: once in the mid-1970s and almost 40 years later when Brown again became governor in 2010.

The last eight years of Kirst’s board leadership proved the most challenging and fruitful, as California embarked on a dramatic overhaul of its standards, curriculum frameworks, assessments and school accountability.