Kerry Ruef

Kerry Ruef is a dynamic, innovative educator whose goal is to give kids (and adults) the most efficient and powerful intellectual tools for success in life. She is also a poet, writer, amateur naturalist, and former classroom teacher.

The seeds of The Private Eye Project sprouted when she began seeking the habits of mind that are common denominators behind painters, poets, scientists, inventors, businesspersons, salespersons, great learners, and great teachers.

By 1988 she'd arrived at a theory, encapsulated in The Private Eye process. On a four-year grant from the Discuren Foundation, she piloted The Private Eye process in The Seattle Public Schools. In doing so she introduced jeweler's loupes (as a thinking tool) to the world of education, and identified the concept of thinking by analogy as the most powerful means to magnify minds. Students showed remarkable gains in ability to communicate, think creatively, and problem-solve.

To date the nationally-acclaimed Private Eye program has spread to thousands of teachers (kindergarten through college) and over three million students in the United States and Canada.