CAMBRIDGE, Mass. ÷ Harold "Doc" Howe II, U.S. commissioner of education to President Johnson and senior lecturer emeritus at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, passed away Friday in Hanover, N.H. He was 84.

As federal education commissioner in 1965, Howe was responsible for desegregating America's public schools, changing the way policymakers approach education reform and arguing on behalf of poor children in modern education.

When the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act introduced federal aid for desegregated schools, the duty fell to Howe to oversee these changes.

Former GSE Dean Jerome T. "Jerry" Murphy, who knew Howe and now occupies the professorship that bears Howe's name, noted the pivotal role played by Howe.

"He was really the point person in the '60s in desegregating the public schools. He was the person in the hot seat, the person who had the overall responsibility," Murphy said.