The George W. Bush Institute annouced Tuesday the appointment of three education fellows — professors Jay P. Greene of the University of Arkansas, Michael J. Podgursky of the University of Missouri, and Matthew G. Springer of Vanderbilt University.

The three will join James W. Guthrie, Sandy Kress, and Beth Ann Bryan—existing education fellows at the Institute.

“Education is a fundamental civil right,” said former President George W. Bush in a press release. He said that improving our schools was at the heart of his administration and will be a “major focus” of the Bush Institute.

“The appointment of these three Institute Fellows will further our efforts to identify the best principles in education reform, and apply them to the vital work of educating America’s children,” he said.

The Institute plans to pursue education reforms by initially concentrating on two areas: improving leadership quality of America’s school priciples and strengthening middle schools in order to better prepare students for college and careers.

Greene received his bachelor’s degree in history from Tufts University, where he graduated summa cum laude before receiving his master’s and doctorate degrees in political science from Harvard. He has previously worked for the University of Houston, the University of Texas at Austin, the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, and most recently at the University of Arkansas as the department head and 21st Century Chair in Education Reform. He is the author of “Education Myths,” published in 2005, and maintains a regular blog on current public policy and political issues.

Dr. Michael J. Podgursky earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a doctorate in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He was most recently a professor of economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he served as department chair from 1995-2005. He is the author of many publications on education, including the forthcoming “Peaks, Cliffs and Valleys: The Peculiar Incentives of Teacher Retirement Systems and Their Consequences for School Staffing.”

Dr. Matthew G. Springer received his bachelor’s degree in education and psychology from Denison University and his doctorate in education policy and finance from Vanderbilt University. He has served as the assistant director for Policy Research at Peabody Center for Education Policy at Vanderbilt University and has most recently served as the director of the National Center on Performance Incentives and as a research assistant professor of Public Policy and Education in the Department of Leadership, Policy, and Organizations at the Peabody College.

“America’s schools are failing too many of America’s children,” James W. Guthrie, senior fellow and director of education policy studies at the Institute, said in a press release. “The newly appointed Fellows are ideally suited to engage in the Bush Institute’s mission to bring excellence to American education. “

Each fellow will serve a three-year renewable term.