Bernard R. Gifford is a Professor in the School of Education at UC Berkeley, specializing in Cognition and Development and in Policy, Organization, Measurement, and Evaluation. He is also the is the Chair, Founder, and Chief Instructional Officer of Academic Systems.

Gifford has a long history of scholarship and service in the field of education. He was deputy chancellor of the New York City Public Schools from 1973-77, and he served as dean of Berkeley's Graduate School of Education from 1983-89. Gifford was also vice president for education at Apple Computer from 1989-92. His research interests include organizational theory, policy analysis, resource allocation policies, micro-implementations, and technology in education.

Gifford's numerous books include Policy Perspectives on Educational Testing (1993) and Employment Testing: Linking Policy and Practice (1993). He was chair of the National Commission on Testing and Public Policy, which in 1990 issued the report From Gatekeeper to Gateway: Transforming Testing in America. He received an honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Long Island University in 1988. He has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Rochester since 1986, and a member of Harvard University's Visiting Committee on Information Systems and Instructional Technology since 1989.