author
Nathan Christ Schaeffer
1849–1919
A Pennsylvania educator and minister, he spent decades shaping public education while also writing and speaking widely on religion and learning. His career joined scholarship, teaching, and public service in a way that left a lasting mark on the state's schools.
1 Audiobook
Thinking and learning to think
by Nathan Christ Schaeffer
About the author
Born in Maxatawny, Pennsylvania, in 1849, he graduated from Franklin and Marshall College and went on to study divinity before continuing his education in Berlin, Tübingen, and Leipzig. He worked as both a minister and a teacher, serving at Franklin and Marshall and later leading the Keystone State Normal School.
He is best known for his long service as Pennsylvania's Superintendent of Public Instruction, a post he held from 1893 until his death in 1919. Alongside his education work, he wrote and lectured on religious and educational subjects, reflecting a career that moved easily between the pulpit, the classroom, and public life.
Schaeffer's writing grew out of practical experience in schools and higher education, so readers can expect a thoughtful, civic-minded voice shaped by scholarship and service.