Philip H. Coombs

Philip Hall Coombs (1915 at Holyoke, MA – February 15, 2006 in Chester, CT), was an American teacher.

He taught economics at Williams College and was a program director for education at the Ford Foundation.

Coombs was appointed by President John F. Kennedy to be the first Assistant Secretary of State for Education and Culture in February, 1961.

[1] During his stint in this post, he went to live in Paris, organizing the UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning.

Being dissatisfied with the pace of change, he resigned from the U.S. State Department in 1962 and, from 1963 to 1968, held the post of Director of the IIEP.