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Dedication East Grand Rapids High School, September 8, 1963
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Dedication East Grand Rapids High School, September 8, 1963
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The original documents are located in Box D16, folder "Dedication East Grand Rapids
High School, September 8, 1963" of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and
Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Copyright Notice
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of
photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The Council donated to the United
States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.
Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public
domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to
remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid
copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
.
Digitized from Box D16 of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
Address? Rep. Gerald R. Ford
Dedication: East Grand Rapids High School
September 8, 1963
THE SEARCH FOR EXCELLENCE
The brochure for this Dedication and Open House, carries this
in Washington
heading, IN SEARCH OF EXCELLENCE. In thumbing through the pamphlet I was
"
greatly impressed with the superb facilities to be available to those attending
this outstanding school. An on-site inspection is even more impressive in that
one can see the wide range of the plant and equipment which is available for the
development of the "whole, complete or total citizen" to the maximum of his
or her abilities.
Obviously, what we see here today is not the handy work of one
person nor even the product of a handful. This magnificent structure, the
superb equipment are now ready for use "in the search of excellence because of
the combined, dedicated and constructive efforts of the Board of Education and
the Citizens Advisory Council. However, a project of this magnitude will not
materialize without widespread public support. This does not happen unless the
faculty and school administration have done their job of educating our youth
asthic
effectively over the years. So on such an occasion one doesn't know who deserves
the maximum glory glory-the chicken or the egg--perhaps it's best to congratulate
on to put it another way -who Comes first
everyone and to spread the praise to all for a truly successful combined effort.
This school is dedicated to the search for excellence. The question
arises: what are our standards of excellence? Is our criteria of excellence too
limited in scope, unfair tungust in application, distorted as to recognition? It is fair
in mecent years
to ask: have our standards of excellence changed and if so, for good or evil?
FORD & LIBRARY GERALD
-2-
In the mad rush of our free society to compete with the materialistic philosophy
of the Soviet Union have we as a nation lost our grip on universal standards
involving morality, and concentrated too heavily on technical excellence? Are
technical and moral criteria opposed to one another? 2 willorthis east question prompty
an anderdual can be a top sciented lythe most regid standards + the same Time be person bighest of the
As we strive for excellence and we must seek and hopefully achieve
it for ourselves and our country, are we using the proper incentives? Is there ithics
despert
an imbalance between the hero worship for athletes, the ecstasy over television special
or the other
constitions.
and movie stars. and the lack of widespread recognition of academic achievement,
or perhaps more importantly, is there a tendency to depreciate virtue, manners,
courtesy, and a score of other desirable character traits?
In raising such questions one appears to be donning the robe of the
"devil's advocate," but may I say most emphatically lip service to a word such as
"excellence" and to standards related thereto will not provide the individual nor
the nation with what is so badly needed. To go one step further, we cannot solve
in the challenging decades ahoul.
the problem by simply making available the finest brick and mortar, the most
To allustrate
plush material environment for the accomplishment of the task. Many of our most
1
eminent forefathers attained a high standard of excellence by the difficult path
of the "one room school house," or from the environment of less well off families
or with handicap of physical disabilities. Such examples, to me fortify the
on to paraphrash (speciance)
statement, "aristocracy is of the soul and not of the cloth."
But one of the points I want to make is that we as a nation in the
competitive world we face today cannot rely exclusively on isolated instances of excellence
or on traditional methods of recognition for success. Somehow we must raise and
broaden our criteria for technical achievement and also expand and equalize the
FORD i LIBRARY GERALD
-3-
methods of recognition. On the_other hand it does not follow we must abandon
or permit the erosion of moral criteria. For example a purist discussing
technical excellence can sound like a Karl Marx, the father of Communism, whose
theory begins with materialism and ends with the homogeniety of mankind, the
destruction of individuality and the elimination of spiritual and moral values.
Let us think for a moment about the 12 million youth who will be
Most unbrased judges would agree
attending the 30,000 high schools in America. The environment in every secondary
school would be better if those in attendance thought of themselves as students
rather than teenagers. And I strongly emphasize "student" in its widest con-
notation.
1) We need maximum participation in academic and intellectual areas to r
prepare for a society which is more and more technically oriented where change
rather than status quo will be commonplace. Since recognition is important I
for hample
would hope that winners of the National Merit scholarships and the Science Fair
contests would make the newspapers and other news media equally with others.
2) We need more than basic contact with music and the arts so that all
potential talent is exposed for development. An equally important 1 as
from benefit such chposine
more leisure becomes available, is the opportunity to satisfy the demands of
both time and mind.
3) We need physical education for all to be in shape to meet the bruising
day-to-day challenges during the next sixty years of one's expected life. You
would expect me because of my long experience in competitive team sports to
wholeheartedly endorse such a program, and I do, providing the emphasis is
directed at the team concept with a proper balancing of the individual's physical
development and leadership training. Rud Waterman would epotoming
these standards.
GERALD LIBRARY
2
ment furthment to
We need an active student government with a high degree
control and responsibility. Participation at this level in establishing rules
for society and the execution of them for the benefit of the majority and the
protection of the minority is equally important for young people in a community
whether they are preparing for careers in higher mathematics or in garage
mechanics.
We can program academics, arts, and music, physical education and student
government, but in such zeal for an all encompassing curriculum let us not funnel
our divergent students into convergent mass. Intelligent divergent thinking
needs understanding and recognition. Our American Way of life is predicated on
the right of the individual to have divergent views.
This basic right is one of
the pillars of strength of our government in contrast to that of Communism, so
in our schools we should not condemn as rebellious a constructive divergence
of view.
We should reject dull conformity or mass recognition at the lowest common
denominator. In our search for excellence we should at the minimum expect
that each should do his very best. Furthermore, each should appreciate the
noblest efforts of others.
Here today we have a prime example of excellent facilities, excellent
equipment, an excellent variety of courses and activities, and excellent
faculty and excellent community support. The challenge for those who will
enter and leave this school is full utilization of their own talents and an
appreciation of the capacities of others so that all will have achieved maximum
personal development and be prepared to contribute totally for a better world
for all mankind.
FORD & LIBRAR GERALD
Our Standards of Excellence
Is a nation's progress directly related to the standards of
excellence of mind and spirit which are recognized by its people?
Is emphasis on excellence consistent with democracy?
What causes decay of such standards, or, alternativel how
can greater public recognition of excellence be established?
What is the public attitude toward excellence and its
recognition in the United States?
These are some of the questions to be explored in the 1963
Aspen East Fall Seminar. The subject is timely as well as impor-
tant because of the present widespread interest in the attempts,
through such means as the National Merit Scholarship Awards, to
stimulate a taste for excellence in our schools and because many
other institutional arrangements to reward superior accomplishment
or to provide incentives for excellent performance are being teste
0 considered.
Adam Yarmolinsky, editor of the book "Recognition of
Excellence", will be moderator, and Marya Mannes, author of the
Saturday Evening Post Article "Let's Stop Exalting Jerks", has
agreed to serve as co-moderator. In this third Aspen East Seminar
we hope to increase our understanding of one of the most important
parts of the general topic "What are we For"? which ha been an
underlying theme for the preceding two seminars.
FORD
RENEWAL
IN SOCIETIES
AND MEN
Reprinted from the 1962 Annual Report
CARNEGIE CORPORATION OF NEW YORK
589 Fifth Avenue, New York 17
FORD i LIBRARY GERALD
Renewal in
Societies and Men
Education looks to the future, and is inevitably an attempt to shape
the future. Today the road ahead is clouded by the danger of nuclear
war, and the enormity of the threat blocks our vision. We have
the difficult task of facing the threat and at the same time looking
beyond it. If we fail to look beyond it, if the long-term future loses
all reality for us, then educational strategies degenerate into spasmodic
responses to the alarms of the moment-as they have today.
If we free ourselves for a moment from preoccupation with the
nuclear problem, we encounter another specter that haunts the mod-
ern mind. A generation of critics has dismantled the idea of Progress,
and every few years the archaeologists unearth another ancient civili-
zation that flourished for a time and then died. The modern mind,
acutely conscious of the sweep of history and chronically apprehen-
sive, is quick to ask, "Is it our turn now?"
Rather than debate that overworked topic, I am going to ask
another kind of question: Suppose one tried to imagine a society that
would be relatively immune to decay-an ever-renewing society.
What would it be like? What would be the ingredients that provided
the immunity?
The skeptic may ask whether any society should last forever, even
ours. It is not a crucial question. If longevity were the only virtue of
the continuously renewing society, the whole exercise might turn out
to be numbingly dull. But a society that has learned the secret of
continuous renewal will be a more interesting and a more vital
society-not in some distant future but in the present. Since continu-
ous renewal depends on conditions that permit the growth and fulfill-
ment of individuals, it will also be a society fit for free men.
3
FORD i LIB GERALD RAP
Annual Report for 1962
Renewal in Societies and Men
To accomplish renewal, we need to understand what prevents it.
As a society becomes more concerned with precedent and custom,
When we talk about revitalizing a society, we tend to put exclusive
it comes to care more about how things are done and less about
emphasis on finding new ideas. But there is usually no shortage of
whether they are done. The man who wins acclaim is not the one who
new ideas; the problem is to get a hearing for them. And that means
"gets things done" but the one who has an ingrained knowledge of the
breaking through the crusty rigidity and stubborn complacency of the
rules and accepted practices. Whether he accomplishes anything is
status quo. The aging society develops elaborate defenses against new
less important than whether he conducts himself in an "appropriate"
ideas-"mind-forged manacles," in William Blake's vivid phrase.
manner. Thus do men become the prisoners of their procedures.
The development of resistance to new ideas is a familiar process in
The body of custom, convention, and "reputable" standards exer-
the individual. The infant is a model of openness to new experience-
cises such an oppressive effect on creative minds that new develop-
receptive, curious, eager, unafraid, willing to try anything. As the
ments in a field often originate outside the area of respectable practice.
years pass these priceless qualities fade. He becomes more cautious,
The break with traditional art was not fostered within the Academy.
less eager, and accumulates deeply rooted habits and fixed attitudes.
Jazz did not spring from the bosom of the respectable music world.
The same process may be observed in organizations. The young
The land-grant colleges, possibly the most impressive innovation in
organization is willing to experiment with a variety of ways to solve
the history of American higher education, did not spring from the
its problems. It is not bowed by the weight of tradition. It rushes in
inner circle of higher education as it then existed. Motels, the most
where angels fear to tread. As it matures it develops settled policies
significant development of this generation in innkeeping, were at
and habitual modes of solving problems. In doing so it becomes more
first regarded with scorn by reputable hotel people.
efficient, but also less flexible, less willing to look freshly at each day's
Vested interests constitute another problem for the aging society.
experience. Its increasingly fixed routines and practices are congealed
The phrase "vested interests" has been associated with individuals or
in an elaborate body of written rules. In the final stage of organiza-
organizations of wealth and power, but the vested interests of workers
tional senility there is a rule or precedent for everything. Someone has
may be as strong as those of the top executives. In any society many
said that the last act of a dying organization is to get out a new and
established ways of doing things are held in place, not by logic nor
enlarged edition of the rule book.
even by habit, but by the enormous restraining force of vested inter-
And written rules are the least of the problem. In mature societies
ests. In an organization certain things remain unchanged for the
and organizations there grows a choking underbrush of customs and
simple reason that changing them would jeopardize the rights, privi-
precedents. There comes to be an accepted way to do everything.
leges, and advantages of specific individuals-perhaps the president,
Eccentric experimentation and radical departures from past practice
perhaps the maintenance men.
are ruled out. The more pervasive this conventionality, the less likely
The more democratic an organization-or a society-the more
is the innovator to flourish. The inventor of the Bessemer process for
clearly it will reflect the interests of its members. So a democratic
steel-making, Sir Henry Bessemer, wrote:
group may be particularly susceptible to the rigidifying force of vested
interest.
"I had an immense advantage over many others dealing with
Still another reason for the loss of vitality and momentum in a
the problem inasmuch as I had no fixed ideas derived from long-
established practice to control and bias my mind, and did not
society is a lowered level of motivation. It is not always easy to say
suffer from the general belief that whatever is, is right."
why motivation deteriorates. Perhaps people stop believing in the
4
5
GERALD
Annual Report for 1962
Renewal in Societies and Men
things they once believed in-the things that gave meaning to their
laboratory may seem to be the personification of innovation and
efforts. Perhaps they grow soft from easy living. Perhaps they fall into
change, yet he functions effectively because of certain deeply estab-
the decadent habit of imagining that intense effort is somehow
lished continuities in his life. As a scientist he is living out a tradition
unsophisticated, that dedication is naive, that ambition is a bit crude.
several centuries old in its modern incarnation, thousands of years old
Or perhaps a rule-ridden society has bottled up their energy, or chan-
in its deeper roots. Every move that he makes reflects skills, attitudes,
neled it into all the tiny rivulets of conformity.
and habits of mind that were years in the making. He is part of an
One may argue, as Toynbee does, that a society needs challenge.
enduring tradition and a firmly established intellectual system; but it
It is true. But societies differ notably in their capacity to see the
is a tradition and a system designed to accomplish its own continuous
challenge that exists. No society has ever so mastered the environment
renewal.
and itself that no challenge remained; but a good many have gone to
The free society is not the only kind that can accomplish change.
sleep because they failed to understand the challenge that was
Far from it. A totalitarian regime coming to power on the heels of a
undeniably there.
revolution may be well fitted to accomplish one great burst of change.
Whatever the reason for loss of motivation, the consequences are
But in the long run its spurt of energy is not only in danger of dying
apt to be devastating. Nothing-neither wealth nor technology,
out but of being replaced by deadly rigidity. Compared to the free
neither talent nor wisdom-will save a society in which motivation
society, it is not well fitted for continuous renewal, generation after
continues to deteriorate.
generation.
So much for the factors that contribute to loss of vitality in a
One crucial respect in which the ever-renewing society parts com-
society. What can be done about them?
pany with all totalitarianism is that it is pluralistic. There is a willing-
Many of the qualities crucial to a society's continued vitality are
ness to entertain diverse views. There are many sources of initiative
qualities of youth: vigor, flexibility, enthusiasm, readiness to learn.
rather than one. Power is widely dispersed rather than tightly held.
This could lead us to imagine that the critical question is how to stay
There are multiple channels through which the individual may gain
young. But youth implies immaturity. And though everyone wants to
information and express his views.
be young, no one wants to be immature.
It would be hard to overemphasize the importance of pluralism in
Every society must mature, but much depends on how this process
helping a society to escape the cycle of growth and decay. The ever-
takes place. A society whose maturing consists simply of acquiring
renewing society is not convinced that it enjoys eternal youth. It
more firmly established ways of doing things is headed for the grave-
knows that it is forever growing old and must do something about it.
yard-even if it learns to do those things with greater and greater
It knows that it is always producing deadwood and must, for that
skill. In the ever-renewing society what matures is a system or framework
reason, look to its seed beds. If a society is dominated by one official
within which continuous innovation, renewal, and rebirth can occur.
point of view, the tentative beginnings of a new point of view may
Concern with decay and renewal in societies must give due emphasis
be a matter of devastating strain and conflict. In a pluralistic society,
to both continuity and change. Peter Drucker has wisely said that in a
where there are already various points of view, the emergence of
world buffeted by change the only way to conserve is by innovating.
another is hardly noticed. In an open society, freedom of communica-
We can turn the saying around and assert that innovation would be
tion ensures that the new ideas will be brought into confrontation
impossible without certain kinds of conserving. The scientist in his
with the old.
6
7
Annual Report for 1962
Renewal in Societies and Men
Perhaps the most important characteristic of an ever-renewing
Only a handful of men and women in any population will achieve
system is that it has built-in provisions for vigorous criticism. It pro-
the highest levels of creativity and innovation. But a good many can
tects the dissenter and the nonconformist. It knows that from the
be moderately creative, and even more can show some spark of crea-
ranks of the critics come not only cranks and troublemakers but
tivity at some time in their lives. The number of men and women who
saviors and innovators. And since the spirit that welcomes noncon-
exhibit some measure of creativity, and the extent to which they
formity is a fragile thing, the ever-renewing society does not depend
exhibit it, may depend very much on the climate in which they find
on that spirit alone. It devises explicit legal and constitutional ar-
themselves.
rangements to protect the critic.
From all that we know of the creative individual-and we now know
And that brings us to another requirement for the continuously
a good deal-he thrives on freedom. Recent research shows that he is
renewing society. It must have some capacity to resolve conflicts, both
not the capricious and disorderly spirit some romantics have imagined
internal and external. Without such capacity, it either will be de-
him to be. He may be quite conventional with respect to all the
stroyed or will dissipate its energies in the maintenance of fiercely
trivial customs and niceties of life. But in the area of his creative work
entrenched feuds. The peace that it seeks is not a state of passivity
he must be free to believe or doubt, agree or disagree. He must be
and uneventfulness. It knows that without the ebb and flow of con-
free to ask the unsettling questions, and free to come up with disturb-
flict and tension progress will not be made in eradicating old evils or
ing answers.
opening new frontiers; but it is committed to the orderly "manage-
When Alexander the Great visited Diogenes and asked whether he
ment of tensions." Thus in its internal affairs it deliberately makes
could do anything for the famed teacher, Diogenes replied, "Only
possible certain kinds of conflict, e.g., by protecting dissenters and
stand out of my light." Perhaps some day we shall know how to
assuring them a hearing; but it creates a framework of rules which
heighten creativity. Until then, one of the best things we can do for
will assure that the conflict is resolved in an orderly fashion. It devises
creative men and women is to stand out of their light.
institutional arrangements that provide a harmless outlet for minor
No one knows why some individuals seem capable of self-renewal
tensions and resolve some of the worst tensions before they reach the
while others do not. The people interested in adult education have
point of explosion.
struggled heroically to increase the opportunities for self-development,
In the last analysis, no society will be capable of continuous renewal
and they have succeeded remarkably. Now they had better turn to
unless it produces the kind of men who can further that process. It
the thing that is really blocking self-development-the individual's
will need innovative men and men with the capacity for self-renewal.
own intricately designed, self-constructed prison; or to put it another
Faced as we are with problems that put a constant strain on our
way, the individual's incapacity for self-renewal.
adaptive powers, it is hardly surprising that the word creativity has
It is not unusual to find that the major changes in life-marriage,
achieved a dizzying popularity. It is more than a word today, it is an
a move to a new city, a new job, or a national emergency-reveal to
incantation. It is a kind of psychic wonder drug, powerful and presum-
us quite suddenly how much we had been imprisoned by the com-
ably painless; and everyone wants a prescription. But the fact that the
fortable web we had woven around ourselves. Unlike the jailbird, we
word has become a slogan should not make us antagonistic to the
don't know that we have been imprisoned until after we have broken
thing itself. What is implied in the word creativity, rightly conceived,
out. It was a common experience during World War II that men and
is something that the continuously renewing society needs very much.
women who had been forced to break the pattern of their lives often
8
9
Annual Report for 1962
Renewal in Societies and Men
discovered within themselves resources and abilities they had not
may be a specialist but he has also retained the capacity to function
known to exist. How ironic that it should take war and disaster to
as a generalist. Within limits he has even retained the capacity to
bring about self-renewal on a large scale.
change specialties.
When we have learned to accomplish such self-renewal without wars
We are beginning to understand how to educate for versatility and
and other disasters, we shall have discovered one of the most im-
renewal, but we must deepen that understanding. If we indoctrinate
portant secrets a society can learn, a secret that will unlock new
the young person in an elaborate set of fixed beliefs, we are ensuring
resources of vitality throughout the society. And we shall have done
his early obsolescence. The alternative is to develop skills, attitudes,
something to avert the hardening of the arteries that attacks so many
habits of mind, and the kinds of knowledge and understanding that
societies. Men who have lost their adaptiveness naturally resist
will be the instruments of continuous change and growth on the part
change. The most stubborn protector of his own vested interest is the
of the young person. Then we shall have fashioned a system that
man who has lost the capacity for self-renewal.
provides for its own continuous renewal.
What are the characteristics of the self-renewing man, and what
This suggests a standard for judging the effectiveness of all educa-
might we do to foster those characteristics? Though we are far from
tion-and so judged, much education today is monumentally ineffec-
understanding these matters, we have a few pieces of the puzzle.
tive. All too often we are giving young people cut flowers when we
I. The self-renewing man is versatile and adaptive. He is not trapped
should be teaching them to grow their own plants. We are stuffing
in the techniques, procedures, or routines of the moment. He is not
their heads with the products of earlier innovation rather than teach-
the victim of fixed habits and attitudes. He is not imprisoned by
ing them how to innovate. We think of the mind as a storehouse to be
extreme specialization. This last point is so important (and so easily
filled rather than as an instrument to be used.
misunderstood) that we must deal with it cautiously. Specialization is
2. The self-renewing man is highly motivated and respects the sources
a universal feature of biological functioning, dramatically observable
of his own energy and motivation. He knows how important it is to
in insect societies and in the structure and functioning of the cells that
believe in what he is doing. He knows how important it is to pursue the
make up a living organism. In humans, it is not peculiar to the modern
things about which he has deep conviction. Enthusiasm for the task
age. Division of labor is older than recorded history. So specialization
to be accomplished lifts him out of the ruts of habit and customary
as such is no cause for alarm. But specialization today has extended
procedure. Drive and conviction give him the courage to risk failure.
far beyond anything we knew in the past, and this presents two
(One of the reasons mature people stop learning is that they become
difficulties. First, there are tasks that cannot be performed by men
less and less willing to risk failure.) And not only does he respond to
and women who have lost the capacity to function as generalists-
challenge, but he also sees challenge where others fail to see it.
tasks of leadership and management, certain kinds of innovation,
But the society does not always find these attributes easy to live
communication, teaching, and many of the responsibilities of child
with. Drive and conviction can be nuisances. The enthusiast annoys
rearing and citizenship. Second, the highly specialized person often
people by pushing ideas a little too hard. He makes mistakes because
loses the adaptability so essential today. He may not be able to reori-
he is too eager. He lacks the cool, detached urbanity that some people
ent himself when technological change makes his specialty obsolete.
consider essential to the ideal organization man. But the ever-renew-
In a rapidly changing world versatility is a priceless asset, and the
ing society sees high motivation as a precious asset and allows wide
self-renewing man has not lost that vitally important attribute. He
latitude to the enthusiast. It does more than that-much more. It
IO
II
BERALD FORD LIBRARY
Annual Report for 1962
Renewal in Societies and Men
puts a strong emphasis on standards, on excellence, on high perform-
beacon to guide one away from such shallows, consider the comment
ance. It fosters a climate in which dedication, enthusiasm, and drive
of Learned Hand in his discussion of liberty: "By enlightenment men
are not only welcomed but expected. It does not accept the "sophisti-
gain insight into their own being, and that is what frees them."
cated" view-that zeal is somehow unworthy of cultivated people.
That brings us again to the recognition that the ever-renewing so-
3. For the self-renewing man the development of his own potentialities
ciety will be a free society. It will understand that the only stability
and the process of self-discovery never end. It is a sad but unarguable
possible today is stability in motion. It will foster a climate in which
fact that most human beings go through life only partially aware of
the seedlings of new ideas can survive and the deadwood of obsolete
the full range of their abilities. In our own society we could do much
ideas be hacked out. Above all, it will recognize that its capacity for
more than we now do to encourage self-development. We could, for
renewal depends on the individuals who make it up. It will foster
example, drop the increasingly silly fiction that education is for young-
innovative, versatile, and self-renewing men and women and give
sters, and devise many more arrangements for lifelong learning. An
them room to breathe. Having room to breathe, they will contribute,
even more important task is to remove the obstacles to individual
as only they can, to the continued vitality of the society.
fulfillment. This means doing away with the gross inequalities of
opportunity imposed on some of our citizens by race prejudice and
economic hardship. It means a continuous and effective operation of
John W Yardner
"talent salvage" to assist young people to achieve the promise that is
PRESIDENT
in them.
But the development of one's talent is only part, perhaps the
easiest part, of self-development. Another part is self-knowledge. The
maxim "Know thyself" ancient, so deceptively simple, so difficult
to follow-has gained in richness of meaning as we learn more about
man's nature. Modern research in psychology and psychiatry has
shown the extent to which mental health is bound up in a reasonably
objective view of the self, in accessibility of the self to consciousness,
and in acceptance of the self. And we have learned how crucial is the
young person's search for identity.
As Josh Billings said, "It is not only the most difficult thing to
know one's self but the most inconvenient." It is a lifelong process,
and formal education is only a part of the process-but an important
part. Some people today seem to imagine that the chief function of
education is to provide the student with a bag of tricks. The chief
complaint of such people is that the schools are not teaching the
tricks well enough-or are teaching mossy nineteenth-century tricks
when they should be teaching slick twentieth-century tricks. As a
I2
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GERALD LIBRAR
GERALD LIBRARY ? FORD
the
recognition
of
EXCELLENCE
THE TWENTY-ONE PERSONS LISTED BELOW met at Princeton, New
Jersey, over the week-end of February 20-22, 1959, and during five sessions,
chaired by as many different individuals, considered how to secure greater
recognition of excellence in the United States. Geographically, their
institutional connections range from New York to California, Massachusetts
to Alabama; their fields of interest include art, education, law, manage-
the
ment, medicine, philanthropy, publicity, religion, the social and the natural
sciences. Present as observers were four members of the Board of the
Edgar Stern Family Fund of New Orleans, which had invited the partici-
recognition
pants to serve as consultants, and its executive secretary.
The main points brought out in this group's analysis of the current
need for greater recognition of excellence in this country, and the main
of
proposals advanced toward meeting that need, are summarized in the pages
that follow.
EXCELLENCE
Participants in the Princeton Meeting
on the Recognition of Excellence
Alfred H. Barr, Museum of Modern Art, New York
Germaine Brée, New York University
J. Douglas Brown, Princeton University
Luther Hilton Foster, Tuskegee Institute
Frank Fremont-Smith, Josiah Macy, Jr., Foundation
John Gardner, Carnegie Corporation
Paul Gross, Duke University
James D. Hart, University of California
Caryl Haskins, Carnegie Institution of Washington
Pendleton Herring, Social Science Research Council
Frederick G. Hochwalt, National Catholic Educational Association
Franklin A. Lindsay, McKinsey and Company, Inc.
Francis P. Miller, Charlottesville, Va.
James Mitchell, National Science Foundation
Theodore S. Repplier, The Advertising Council, Inc.
John M. Stalnaker, National Merit Scholarship Corporation
M. H. Trytten, National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council
W. Homer Turner, United States Steel Foundation, Inc.
Ralph W. Tyler, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences
Charles E. Wyzanski, Jr., Cambridge, Mass.
*Alfred Kazin, New York
Mr. and Mrs. Edgar B. Stern, Sr.
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas B. Hess
Helen Hill Miller
Copies of this summary may be obtained from
The Edgar Stern Family Fund,
1299 National Press Building, Washington 4, D. C.
FORD i LIBRARY GERALD
BACKGROUND
ASSUMPTIONS
H
AZARDING INITIAL SUGGESTIONS why greater recogni-
tion of excellence should currently be given very serious consid-
eration in this country, members of the group stressed:
The frontier of yesterday, and the types of performance that
it encouraged, were very different from the frontiers of today,
which increasingly are frontiers of the mind. There are many
types of excellence now in American life as an outgrowth of the
country's economic production and free political institutions, and
it is reasonable to expect continued achievement in these sectors,
but there is grave doubt that sufficient creativity in art, science,
human relations and higher learning will follow as a natural
sequence of the institutions of the American past.
3
What Is Excellence?
Contemporary American life leads individuals into the exper-
tise of specialization; this cuts them off from a broader tradition,
and in any case they are often unsure what their tradition is.
The distractions arising from the very affluence which has
provided more Americans with more money, more goods, and
Pressed to define or identify the excellence of which they spoke
more choices than previous societies have had can militate against
-was it excellence of mind, spirit, intellect; of taste, manners,
excellence-in the best of all possible worlds, what more is there
form-members of the group diverged over a considerable range.
to strive for? In such circumstances, satisfaction with the good
may make of the good the enemy of the best; happiness and ful-
One made the etymological point that the word derives from
filment become a social goal, and so do risklessness and security.
ex cellere-something from Heaven; the excellent person is a
The individuals composing such a society may crave for distinc-
deus ex machina come from on high to solve all problems-hence
tion, but be content with a social imitation of excellence.
the word denotes the highest degree of competence in a given area.
And if American economic output tends to dull a taste for
Others repudiated a relationship between competence and ex-
adventurousness beyond the suburban pattern, a mistaken inter-
cellence. A competent student, one member remarked, is not
pretation of political democracy may diffuse egalitarianism through
necessarily excellent; agreeing, another declared that excellence is
all of society and induce suspicion of the above-average individual.
not performance at a more competent level, but at a more original
For instance, an elementary school may give a wide range of prizes
level; the excellent individual is a creative moral personality who
for performance, say, in specialties like student traffic control, but
enlarges the understanding of mankind, a person with deeper in-
hesitate to reward scholarship lest such a prize damage the egos
sight that enables him to grasp what his predecessors looked for
of non-recipients.
but didn't find; a man who provides the efflorescence that repre-
sents new goals of society. Einstein, Robert Frost, Justice Holmes
In the American culture, striving for excellence in the intellectual
and Henry Stimson were cited as examples in widely different
fields is not recognized as a high virtue at all levels of society.
fields. A third participant said that, for example, in the natural
sciences excellence is not simply competence in a given field but
Yet this is an age with need for many more people of a higher
requires a high aesthetic sense, exercised by individuals concerned
degree of excellence in many fields-some of them fields whose
with the moral and social impact of what they do rather than
actual importance is not accurately assessed by society as a whole.
with themselves or with their area of investigation in isolation.
There are few societies in which excellence in some degree has not
arisen, but occasionally excellence has flowered in profusion.
But a discussion of excellence solely in these terms, a member
Why? The group was largely unanimous in belief that the values
countered, ignores the setting in which excellence can be recog-
of American society need revision in the circumstances of 1959
nized. This must be a setting of competence. Excellence is a very
if operation of a Gresham's law of quality is not to drive out the
pluralistic concept, with overlapping frameworks, representing men
excellent with the less-than-excellent.
who are doing their best, no matter what they do. Only in such
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a society is there basis for recognition of the highest forms of
excellence. A society of slobs cannot recognize excellence in its
Several members stressed the importance of the influence on a
members (particularly, another participant injected, when the slobs
young person of some one he admires-a boy may watch his father
are slobs who think they know it all!). It is self-defeating to try
fly-casting, have a go at it himself, get a pat on the shoulder for
to treat persons of top excellence without reference to others-in
his first good result, resolve to become an expert; or a college
a school, for instance, if excellence is thought of only in terms
student may be told by his biology professor that the frog's pineal
of the top youngsters, with the rest regarded as oafs, a backlash of
gland can be removed, find excitement in the dissection, and
egalitarianism in the community will stigmatize the best. Only
emerge with a resolve to be as good as or better than his teacher.
where there is a sense that no matter what job an individual is
doing, he can do it well, will there be a good climate for top ex-
Approval by peers rather than by elders was suggested as a
cellence; people who do whatever they do well can appreciate and
more prevalent adolescent influence-in college, for instance, it
encourage individuals of originality.
may result in preference for a gentleman's C rather than the A of
which a professor may believe the gentleman capable. Tests have
Another member similarly identified excellence as the maximum
shown that without differences among their members in scholastic
fulfilment of the individual but warned that in a pool of water one
aptitude, college communities vary-one will emphasize basket-
cannot draw a line between droplets-there is an interrelation
ball or making money, another academic excellence, and the
between them.
annual selection process brings in support for expectations that
Supporting this general position, a participant noted that the
are already there. The member bringing forward these findings
word excellence is highly abstract; one must ask, excellent with
thought it important that goals not seem too far ahead of attain-
regard to what, and perhaps establish priorities, ranking in im-
ment, lest students give up without trying.
portance an excellent watch-maker, an excellent seeing-eye dog-
trainer, a man who excels in realizing spiritual values. But such an
Another participant extended this view much further down in
establishment of priorities was challenged by the advocates of
the educational process, stressing that if elementary-school young-
pluralism, who warned that if priorities are carried to the point
sters are not reached and given an image of individual fulfilment,
where one set of values is recognized throughout society, the re-
they will serve below their capacities. Provision of opportunities
sult is either comformity or dictatorship.
at an early age for an individual to meet a challenge, however
small, to do something at his highest level, requiring of him efforts
and abilities out of the ordinary, may frequently convince him that
he does have abilities, and give him the incentive to fulfill them.
How Is Excellence Stimulated?
Others doubted that real excellence is induced by imitation: the
thrust to create, said one, is greater than any the father-image ever
gave. (Group members murmured, take Shakespeare or Melville.)
A similar range of views reappeared as the group turned to
It is right for the very good, he said, to be patted on the back-
discuss means of stimulating the attainment of excellence.
the excellent don't need it. The kid who is called a square by his
companions, another member remarked, may be excellent even if
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GERALD FORD LIBRARY
he does not appear so to those doing the calling. Aspiration in-
more people. Knowing about-best of all having an opportunity
duced by example, a third member commented, can make the
to work with-some one who is a prototype of what he comes to
good become very good; but it will not necessarily make the very
admire can cause an individual to identify himself with areas of
good excellent. A colleague recalled T. S. Eliot's distinction be-
spirit and intellect of which he may otherwise remain unaware,
tween the man who works and the man who suffers. Clarifying his
and in which he may become himself creative.
earlier position, a member said that what he meant was summed
up in the Japanese proverb: don't follow in the footsteps of the
The range of heroes available to young Americans in their form-
men of old, but seek what they sought.
ative years should be a broad one-- member commented that
there is nothing wrong with the cowboy as a hero for Americans
A person who is truly excellent, a participant insisted, has some-
aged twelve; the trouble is that not enough twelve year olds move
thing in mind that he wants to do in a certain way, and will persist.
on to other heroes as they move out of adolescence. Agreeing, a
A member reminded the group of Pasternak's position as one of
colleague proposed Prometheus-he who reaches for that not yet
the tragic contemporary paradoxes, an example of the creative
seen.
spirit bursting into expression in a society where the leaders try to
repress it. Most of the group were in agreement that the greatest
geniuses would always persist, as they have in the past, with or
without recognition-Rembrandt, a member noted, did so, and
paid the price. For some geniuses, it was felt, the judgment of the
The Risks of Designating Excellence
future is the only justification; these types of excellence fall out-
side the range of reward by their contemporary generation.
But while accepting the view that the loneliness of the men
The group recognized many problems in designating excellence:
who explore beyond the limits of their time may be beyond either
influence or aid, the group thought there is great social value in
The enormous proliferation of awards over recent years has
recognition of the attained excellence of the lonely genius; honor
not infrequently put selection committees in the despairing position
and visibility may mean less than nothing to him, but can mean a
of saying, Look, we have to name somebody!-and signing a ballot
great deal to the community. A member affirmed the duty of men
which later turns into an albatross. In such circumstances, one
living in a pluralistic society to make known the values in which
participant remarked, up goes the price of shoddy!
they believe: lack of affirmation creates a vacuum which is
promptly preempted by promoters of such honorees as beauty
queens.
There were words of appreciation for those who have spurned
the ordinary forms of recognition. Their independence was thought
Another member reaffirmed the importance of recognizing high
a refreshing contrast to the mood of the creative artists who down
excellence in a society where the things that are important have
the ages have regularly appeared, hat in hand and laurel on head,
rather suddenly begun to be located in the intellectual realm and
at the doors of contemporary donors-Haydn was cited as the
where the need is great for a broadened base from which to draw
perfect prototype of today's foundation man.
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9
While enough is probably not known about the effects of
body public criticism, an unfavorable press, perhaps Congressional
award-giving, some industrial firms have discontinued the practice
inquiry. Selection committees may start out bravely, saying they
within the company on the grounds that the net effect was destruct-
expect nine failures for every success, but when failures show up,
ive of morale; one participant described a "suggestion box" award
caution sets in, and subsequent awards serve only to freeze current
given by a major corporation this year as causing envy and subse-
patterns, emphasizing performance within recognized canons.
quent trouble in the shop that proved more costly than the com-
(This tendency, one member interjected, is particularly costly in
pany's savings through application of the suggestion; another
the nuclear science and mathematics field, where excellence tends
referred to nominations for recognition within government bodies
to appear very young.)
which bore such obvious signs of a finagle as to destroy the value
of the award throughout the agency. A third commentator sug-
Among causes for such corrosive caution, the group listed:
gested that the unfavorable criticism of some organizational awards
stems from the view that the award-giving management is pursuing
The effect of bigness on selecting bodies. Major grant-giving
its own ends.
institutions tend to behave like public utilities. They take over
from the political process and incorporate in their own decisions
If an award is to influence excellence in others, the criteria
the concepts of balance, due process, fairness, representation of
on which it is based must be clear alike to the award-givers and
all interests-at the expense of excellence.
to the public: the former should distinguish excellence from like-
ableness, good reputation, non-controversialness, and should get
Unprepared boards of directors. The-largest-growing source
independent ratings that constitute real evidence rather than judg-
of funds which might be used for support of excellence, the founda-
ments of reputation; the latter should have enough information to
tions set up as part of the structure of corporations in recent years
avoid mistaking the award for a designation either of popularity
and now dispensing some $1.1 billion annually, is developing
or of partisan identification.
for the most part without any particular philosophy, on the basis
of decisions made by boards of industrialists who have little ex-
But the major difficulty discussed was the difficulty of maintain-
perience in judging excellence and little understanding that in
ing a risk-taking attitude on the part of selection committees of
this, as well as in more familiar fields, long-run security comes
all kinds. The honoring of excellence already attained is safe
from taking current risk.
enough, and has the merits already discussed. But the recogni-
tion of excellence that is potential rather than realized-and for
The supplanting of individual choices by committee choices.
broadening and deepening the excellence that a society will exhibit
The traditional sponsors of creative arts, from kings to merchant
this is the more essential-is highly speculative. Selecting bodies
princes, ranged in taste from good to bad, but the private patron
backing long shots must, it was affirmed, be willing to take losses,
had the courage of his convictions. In the past generation, Presi-
losses in terms of ridicule in the academic world, financial losses
dent Eliot of Harvard, President M. Carey Thomas of Bryn Mawr,
in the world of affairs. The excellent but eccentric individual-
had exceptional perceptiveness in selecting excellent young pro-
and a large per cent of the excellent will deviate in some way
fessors, often over the objections of their faculties; most present
from accepted normalcy-can easily attract to his sponsoring
college presidents are in this respect amiable men. Selection by
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11
faculty committee is often accompanied by a fear psychosis of
How to Change a Climate
doing something that will be criticized-and the fear grows with
the size of the committe.
In a variety of contexts, the current condition of the American
climate in respect to excellence was examined with concern.
The Discoverers of Excellence
One participant, noting that a large part of the basic ideas for
the development of nuclear physics in the United States was con-
tributed by people who had been educated in Europe, queried what
in other educational systems had led these men to drive forward
Through the course of the meeting, the group returned repeat-
with true power.
edly to the little-recognized importance of the individuals in
Another noted the contrast between current preferences in poli-
schools, colleges, corporations, government service, the art world,
tical leadership and preferences at various earlier periods in
who discover and evoke excellence in others. A contrast was
American history-the racist demagogue in contrast to the Vir-
drawn between the teacher or professor who produces books and
ginia dynasty, for instance.
papers and thereby advances his own career, and his colleague Mr.
Chips who at the end may have little to show on his own account
A third deplored the early inroads of triviality, of the frittering
but who is remembered by the best of generations of students as
away of time that stunts the mind. Too late, too many people make
the man who sparked the beginning of their work. Even where
touching but pathetic subsequent efforts to catch up to what they
selection is by the committee process, the guidance of one indivi-
might have been. Recent studies of the heroes of secondary school
dual may be the actual reason for the taking of intelligent risks.
pupils were reported with misgiving.
While instances were cited of individuals whose sparkmanship has
At the same time, the group felt that genuine curiosity and
become known-Abraham Flexner in medical education, Felix
yearning for achievement exist among children and in society
Frankfurter with his law students-it was agreed that more often
generally, and that much competence and some excellence could
than not the person responsible for touching others remains quite
well be evoked by a raising of sights. (One participant acidly re-
far down in the corporate or university structure, quite obscure in
marked that where "driver education" is a compulsory course,
the government bureaucracy.
where a class in English engages in a literary treasure hunt to the
library whose specious booty is the batting average of Yogi Berra,
As the talk proceeded, members repeatedly suggested that the
the attitudes of both teacher and pupil toward education are apt
raising of the level of excellence in American society might achieve
to be downgraded.) The failure of some thousands of the best
more leverage through recognition of these locaters of excellence
high school students to go on to college was cited as evidence
than by direct awards to those located.
of current absence of incentive.
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13
The extent of latent but available interest was thought to be
Consider the quality of instruction in most current science class-
measurable by the response to the recent TV program, Continental
rooms, additional participants urged: only a fraction of those now
Classroom, a course in nuclear and advanced physics for which
teaching science could pass the Science Service tests; since 1950,
some 300,000 people have been willing to be before their sets
there has been a 53 per cent decrease in the number of qualified
from 6:30-7:00 a.m. five days a week. Credit for this course,
teachers of high school science; in 1957, only 224 persons com-
taught by Harvey White of the University of California and others,
pleted preparation for the teaching of high school physics, and
including Nobel prize winners, is currently being given by 278
only around 40 per cent of those qualified each year actually
colleges and universities in 47 states.
take teaching positions. Use of films for the teaching of science
is increasing in schools, and many students getting their knowledge
The member outlining this development thought similar courses,
of science this way have done better in college than those from
in other sciences, the humanities and the social sciences, should be
conventional courses. Opportunity for teachers to watch a master
made available; Title 9 of the Defense Education Act authorizes
at work is likewise important; and it is inaccurate to say that the
the Department of Health, Education and Welfare to interest
use of films induces solely a' spectatorial attitude; some 600 of
itself in the development and evaluation of new media of com-
the groups watching Continental Classroom have bought text-
munication; given the present demonstration of public interest,
books and carried on work supplementary to that presented
the networks may quite possibly become willing to put such
through the TV medium. Also, persons inhibited by special taboos
programs on at more convenient times.
from exhibiting interest in science-high school girls, for instance
-may get a chance to find they like it.
Another member differed sharply, calling the passivity of the
TV spectator dangerous as giving the impression that learning is
Many of those present thought that such programs have great
transmissible without effort on the part of the recipient; a colleague
utility in raising mass levels, in demonstrating excellence, with all
agreed, saying that education is the most intensive of the arts, and
its rigors, as a contrast to the sordid banality of much of the TV
can't be mass provided-only where there is a close interaction
that is otherwise available. The increase in knowledgeable taste
between an able student and an able teacher is a genuine education
in good music among many people, following the ready availability
possible. (The story was cited of Professor Agassiz giving a
of hi-fi, was cited as a parallel development. The psychological
student a stone and telling him to go away and come back when
effect, if large numbers of people enroll for TV classes, was sug-
he had found out about it; when the student returned a week
gested as having a general carry-over into changing social values;
later, he told him to go away again, he hadn't had time to find out
as such programs raise the right problems, more people will be
enough about it.)
induced to seek answers.
But, retorted another member, who had a devotee of Continental
But while admitting some degree of relationship between mass
Classroom in his family, such a program can give a first look at a
levels of competence and appreciation, and the attainment of ex-
laboratory and the kind of teaching that goes with it; it can effect
cellence, some members thought that the macroclimate was less
a significant broadening of vistas for people with no previous
important to persons of excellence than smaller surrounding micro-
exposure whatever.
climates which feed them ideas. It was suggested that even in the
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WHAT HONORS WOULD ENHANCE
great days of Athens, the boxer was the popular hero; that
EXCELLENCE IN AMERICA?
Shakespeare was not a response to the whole Elizabethan era but
to smaller circles of quality. Those supporting this position
reiterated their concern lest in an effort to spread-it-wide, society
ignore the importance of nucleii and foci whose quality is ma-
terially higher than that of the mass.
A
GAINST THIS GENERAL BACKGROUND, the last two ses-
Illustrating, a member noted that in the field of medicine,
sions of the conference reviewed specific institutions in terms of
American attainment-as measured, for instance in Nobel prize
their enhancement of excellence-both institutions now in exist-
awards-compares favorably with that of Europe. The medical
ence, and others whose establishment might merit consideration.
schools of this country have remained small; their selectiveness
may not have been good for general US public health, but it has
The Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, the Society of
produced a considerable amount of excellence at the frontiers of
Fellows at Harvard, the Woods Hole Laboratory, the Center for
medical knowledge. The person making the comment expressed
Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences were cited as offering
concern lest the advantages of a very broad approach divert
opportunities for advanced work by mature people-uncomple-
interest and funds from intensive education. He thought that if
mented, it was remarked, by parallel opportunities in the human-
the Federal government concerns itself with broad programs, the
ities. Several members proposed that if half a dozen universities,
private foundations should support intensive ventures.
particularly the large ones, had societies of fellows, linked in an
overall organization, and with exchanges of personnel, a number of
Current financial realities for both institutions and professors
values might accrue. The participating bodies could provide asso-
were cited by a member from the academic community who noted
ciation of the young scholar with the mature one, without aca-
the small number of students who go into teaching. It is an
demic requirements and in an atmosphere affording the free play
unglamorous vocation, and institutions increasing assess professors
of minds. The nation-wide character of these interchanged oppor-
in terms of the kind of activity that can be put on an IBM punch
tunities would compensate for the space and dispersion which
card; such procedure leaves small place for the Nobel prize winner
penalize communication across a continent. The movement toward
with two students. Another such member thought a promising
post-doctoral fellowships is gaining ground; its value would be en-
device might be for a university, when awarding a prize to a
hanced by rotations among universities on a one-year basis, giving
distinguished alumnus, to give it to him for award, in turn, to
a man the advantage of the judgment of his peers at the receiving
the teacher or teachers who helped him most.
university.
What about rewarding teachers at the high-school level?
Mention was made of the San Francisco high school teachers
award, whose emphasis is on the students not the teacher, and
the nation-wide Science Talent Search, in which the teacher is
recognized along with the student. The use made by some
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17
accredited colleges of funds given by an industrial foundation for
Foundation, recommending a campaign, conducted by the Council
disposition at the discretion of the president was cited: about 75
on the same basis as its other public service campaigns in the fields
of them make awards to the best teacher, and 50 provide funds
of safety, the Red Cross, Treasury bonds, etc., with four parallel
for publication of significant research; grants to teachers are in-
approaches:
creasingly awarded with student judgment included in the basis
for the award.
to opinion leaders through advertisements in magazines and
newspapers, presenting the necessity for excellence, the importance
of respect for learning, the need for more basic research-this
The role of the press in giving notice to academic achievement,
would be an effort to influence the influencers;
and in treating other forms of the attainment of excellence as news-
worthy was canvassed: one member pointed out that very little
to parents and students through a popular campaign appealing
attention had been given to recent awards of $10,000 each to 10
to self-interest, pointing out that employers go to the top-ranking
scholars and 10 painters.
segment for personnel, and emphasizing the satisfactions and
prestige of accomplishment;
Another suggested that there is little trouble getting coverage
when the release of news is handled with professional understand-
to business men and stockholders through the business press,
ing; the success of the Science Talent Search, which is directed
appealing for more basic research and more backing of decisions
by a former newsman, and which spends a considerable sum on
by management to conduct it;
its publicity in comparison to its expenditure on awards, shows
that the press is receptive if given adequate guidance. (While the
to the general public, through stimulation of articles and other
group was meeting, Princeton got good coverage of the award of
non-advertising presentations such as cartoons and comic strips
its freshman prize to Fritz Kreisler's nephew, with the superinten-
which would bring the merits of achievement before readers.
dent of his preparatory school featured and with the school getting
part of the prize as well as the boy.) A third member, saying that
The group noted that the United States is alone among major
the question is broader than the placement of specific news stories,
nations in not having a national academy. The considerable num-
noted how in the many one-paper communities across the country
ber of recent suggestions for the formation of academies for var-
the local climate is to a considerable extent responsive to the
ious special purposes was noted:
paper's attitude; he stressed the importance of convincing more
editors and publishers of the pertinence of excellence in the
Dean Rusk's proposal for a prestige organization of elder
national life to their overall news policy.
statesmen, with ex-Presidents Hoover and Truman as
charter members, to bring forward long-range policy
proposals;
The group was told of a proposal which the Advertising Council
has prepared after consultation with Dr. James R. Killian, Jr.,
Senator Henry M. Jackson's proposal for an Academy
special assistant to the President for Science and Technology,
of National Policy, advisory to the government on policy
and Dr. Alan T. Waterman, director of the National Science
problems;
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FORD & LIBRARY 07V835
* Agnes E. Meyer's proposal for an Academy of the Social
suggested that a Woodrow Wilson World Fellowship, authorized
Sciences.
by Congress, presented by the President, carrying a suitable hon-
orarium, might become a US counterpart of the Nobel awards.
In addition, there has been talk of an over-all academy, com-
parable to those of the countries of Western Europe, which might
In closing, members of the group were asked to indicate areas
be related to such existing institutions as the American Philosophic
touched on in the discussion or newly come to mind-"No matter
Society; the American Academy of Arts and Letters; the American
how wild they may appear", the chairman said-which they
Council of Learned Societies; or the National Academy of Sciences,
regarded as most promising for further consideration. The replies
which has a Federal charter and also serves as the Federal gov-
clustered around the following main themes:
ernment's science adviser.
Recognition of the locators and developers of excellence, institu-
Members commented on the strengths and weaknesses of various
tional and individual. Emphasis on what people do through
foreign academies. While a great deal of fun is made in France
others, in research, business, military and civil service, dip-
of the Academy and its Institutes, and while a considerable fraction
lomatic, political areas as well as in the teaching profession.
of its members, one participant thought, are to be classed as
In the teaching profession, honor to be accorded both the
institutions and the teachers of those who have achieved
pompiers, the institution was felt to have contemporary value-
though not necessarily the one that Richelieu had in mind in
excellence; with such recognition ranging from the most ele-
establishing it. To what extent could such a pattern be accli-
mentary schooling to post-doctoral studies. Organization of
matized in the spread-out, pluralistic society of the United States?
occasions for the presentation of such honors, to achieve
more recognition at grass roots levels and to emphasize
step-by-step goals.
The record of excellence in the selections by the Swedish Aca-
demy of its Nobel award winners was attributed in part to the
Organization of conferences with news and feature writers, editors,
fact that since Sweden is a small country, domestic pressures for
publishers, media executives on the recognition of excellence;
nomination are reduced, and the prestige of making good choices
also with corporations and labor groups; establishment of
based solely on merit becomes a national asset.
committees by the professional societies, the arts, etc., to work
with news representatives, and of rosters of speakers on whom
The Royal Society, and the selections under the British honours
community groups could call for their programs.
system were thought to benefit on the one hand from a long tradi-
tion of excellence, and on the other from the relative freedom from
Presentation on educational TV and radio of programs conveying
political pressures provided by the device of consultation, at
at least initial insight into the subject matter of today's body
of knowledge.
selection time, between the government and the crown.
Provision of a variety of opportunities for both independent and
An American national honors system might provide medals,
group study to encourage academic advance and refreshment:
comparable to those now awarded for military valor; it was
through advanced study centers, including the humanities
FORD
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21
LIDRARI
1) Review historical or factual studies of prior or existing
along with other fields of learning; through faculty senior
attempts to identify excellence, nurture its development, recognize
fellowships; through junior fellowships related to the senior
its existence and award its attainment. Against this background,
group.
attempt to develop a concept of excellence, its qualities, charact-
eristics and manifestations. (Allowance should be made for the
Emphasis on the early identification of excellence, perhaps through
possibility that this concept may differentiate types of excellence,
a nationwide system of high-school papers on questions posed
perhaps by specialties-creative arts, science, public service; by
by people of recognized excellence; use of risk money to see
age or maturity; by identification of the individual with micro- or
what happens when excellence is judged by the peer group
macro-groups of varying size and complexion.)
within the high school.
2) Assemble available knowledge in the social and behavioral
sciences which may bear on the broad concept of excellence,
Examination of possible systems of national honors, including
including currently scattered and fragmentary pieces of investiga-
establishment of a national academy; adaptation of the Order
tion in psychology, sociology, and other areas of the behavioral
of Merit to this country; designation of awards in which the
sciences. Include studies of early identification of exceptional
individual would have the honor but the award go to his
talent; intellectual leadership; group motivation and stimulation;
institution; provision of local awards to communities-say
the impact of reward mechanisms on the recipients of awards and
for a race relations project-and to colleges-say for an
on the groups to which recipients belong; the psychological bases
exceptional choir; emphasis on tying the younger group
of high motivation; analyses of tests for unusual competence or
into societies of distinction, such as the Engineers' Student
talent, especially in the intellectual area; analyses of group dyna-
Day, or through a junior parallel to any academy that might
mics and factors in the development of climates of opinion in
various groups.
be set up.
Analysis of awards that are currently given, their pluses and
3) Synthesize and interpret this assembled research material,
minuses, and the effect that the giving of awards has on
using a group of high-level advisors drawn primarily from the
behavioral sciences, but including representatives from the natural
others than their recipients, with a view to building on what
sciences, the social sciences, the humanities and the creative and
is available now.
fine arts. Present a progress report, based on this review; it should
supply a better identification of the concept of excellence.
At this final session, a participant made a proposal that a
major high-level operations analysis be undertaken comprising
4) Propose definite lines of action and solicit foundation or
excellence in the social and the natural sciences, the humanities
other support to further them. In some cases, direct action pro-
and the creative and fine arts, and including most of the areas that
grams might be recommended for immediate launching; in others,
members of the group had previously indicated should be explored.
experimental pilot projects might be indicated.
It would be carried out in four phases:
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22
TOWARDS THE CLOSE OF THE CONFERENCE, an off-the-cuff poll was
taken, with each of those present invited to propose from one to three
names of persons he regarded as exemplifying the kind of excellence that
should be more widely recognized. Some of the names were suggested as
notable for the discovery and stimulation of high talent. Some have already
received broad acclaim for excellence in their own right. Some are not
widely known but are intensively appreciated by fellow specialists. Distri-
bution among age groups ranged from the '20's to the '80's. Distribution
The member making this suggestion stressed his premise that
among professions included literature, research, music, administration,
journalism, education, medicine, industry, law, the military, the church,
such an operation might have no more than five-to-ten percent
politics. Only three individuals received more than one vote.
impact on the promotion of excellence in American society. But
While not all participants made nominations, and those who did had
it might initiate an improvement of intellectual tone, and inject into
no opportunity to give prolonged consideration to their nominees, the list
contemporary life a goal of high and excellent performance. For
is reproduced below; since it is doubtful if any one present was familiar
its financing, a budget running from half a million to a million
with all the names, they at least exemplify the range with which the
conference was dealing.
dollars was suggested, and a time span of perhaps two years.
Participation by a considerable number of foundations, including
Jacques Barzun (author, critic in the arts field)
Alex Bavelis (scientist, Stanford)
private business foundations, was thought desirable, in order to
Leonard Bernstein (conductor, New York Philharmonic)
broaden as far as possible not only the source of funds but the
George B. Berry (Dean, Harvard Medical School)
basis for early attention to the purposes of the operation; it was
Detlev Bronk (president, National Academy of Sciences)
suggested that the Edgar Stern Family Fund, alone or in col-
Hodding Carter (Mississippi newspaper editor)
laboration with other groups such as the National Science Founda-
Margaret Clapp (president, Wellesley)
James Conant (educator) (three votes)
tion, might be the catalyst of such an undertaking.
Peter Delye
Erik Erikson (Austen Riggs Center and M.I.T.)
C. H. Greenewalt (president, E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co.)
Learned Hand (jurist)
Ernest Hemingway (author)
George Marshall (military leader)
Katherine McBride (president, Bryn Mawr College)
Larimer Mellon (director, Albert Schweitzer Hospital, Haiti)
Lars Onsager (chemist, Yale University)
Gerald Peal (editor, Scientific American)
I. I. Rabi (physicist, Columbia University)
Frank Rosenblatt (developer of perception)
John M. Russell (executive director, Markle Foundation)
Jonas Salk (specialist in medical research) (two votes)
Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. (historian, Harvard)
Henry Knox Sherrill (presiding bishop, Episcopal Church)
Herbert Simon (specialist in industrial management, Carnegie
Institute of Technology)
Wallace Sterling (president, Stanford)
Dewitt Stettin, Jr. (associate director, National Institute for
Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases, Bethesda)
Adlai E. Stevenson (politician) (five votes)
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LIBRARY
FORD
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