Andrew Coulson began his work in education after moving on from a background in computer engineering to help reform a system he thought could be made better; Coulson set out to make education better through free-market education highlighted by school choice.

"Andrew hit the radars of everyone involved in education reform—especially school choice—with his 1999 book Market Education: The Unknown History, which captured exactly what he wanted everyone to know about education,” said the Cato Institute, where Coulson was a senior fellow.

As opposed to having states dictate where taxpayers money goes in funding education, Coulson was one of the first proponents to argue in favor of publicly funded voucher programs, making him one of the earliest advocates of school choice.

Today, the wisdom of this choice mechanism has been borne out, with tax-credit-based programs starting later than vouchers, but now exceeding total enrollment by about 53,000 students,” the Cato Institute said.

Before his death, Coulson was the director of the Center for Educational Freedom, where he continued his work with education policy.

Coulson died at the age of 48 after losing an 18-month long battle with brain cancer.

Educators across the Internet remember Coulson’s radical influence in the education sphere:

Incredibly saddened to hear about the passing of @Andrew_Coulson. He was an amazing advocate for school choice. He will be missed by many.

— Patricia Levesque (@LevesquePat) February 8, 2016

Deeply missed, greatly admired: RIP passionate and brilliant @CatoInstitute education scholar @Andrew_Coulson http://www.cato.org/people/andrew-coulson

— Walter Olson (@walterolson) February 7, 2016

Terribly saddened to hear of the death of @Andrew_Coulson A brilliant mind and a terrific generous and loyal friend.

— James Tooley (@james_tooley) February 8, 2016

Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

2/8/2016