Robert Slavin, global authority on education research and evidence-based school reform, dies at 70 He is remembered for the lives he changed through his Success for All Foundation and his dedication to meaningful education reform in America By Andrew Myers / Published April 26, 2021 Robert E. Slavin, a noted education researcher, the first-ever Distinguished Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Education and director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Research and Reform in Education, died Saturday, April 24, of a heart attack. He was 70. Slavin was a preeminent researcher at the School of Education and a globally recognized figure in the field. His personal mantra was a continual emphasis on "evidence-based" research as the driver of school reforms across the country—a phrase he often simplified as "what works" in education. Slavin was among a handful of education experts known by name worldwide. He was sought out regularly to testify before Congress and to weigh in on education reform in the national media.