Chester Evans "Checker" Finn Jr. (born August 3, 1944) is a former professor of education, an educational policy analyst, and a former United States Assistant Secretary of Education. He is currently the president emeritus of the nonprofit Thomas B. Fordham Foundation in Washington, D.C. He is also Volker Senior Fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution where he chairs the Working Group on Good American Citizenship. He was also a member of the Maryland Kirwan Commission on Education during its authorization period from 2016 to 2019. Finn was Professor of Education and Public Policy at Vanderbilt University (1981–2002). He served as Assistant Secretary for Research and Improvement at the U.S. Department of Education (1985–88). Prior positions included Staff Assistant to U.S. President Richard Nixon; special assistant to Massachusetts Governor Francis Sargent (1972–73); counsel to U.S. Ambassador to India Daniel Patrick Moynihan (1973–74); Research Associate at the Brookings Institution (1974–77); and legislative director for U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (1977–81).