Outskirts Press
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Points of a Compass

An American Educator's Journey

by Robert M. Berdahl

Points of a Compass
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Points of a Compass

An American Educator's Journey

by Robert M. Berdahl

Published Nov 21, 2020
395 Pages
Genre: BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Educators



 

Book Details

The autobiography of a leading American educator

In Points of a Compass, former president of the University of Texas at Austin and chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, Robert Berdahl offers his autobiography as a historian and administrator at four universities in different cultural and political regions of the country. Berdahl traces the trajectory of his career and his thinking from his childhood in a conservative Midwestern family in the 1940s to the first decades of the twenty-first century. He provides insight into the opportunities and challenges of leading large public universities. It is more than a personal story, however; it is also a historian’s commentary on the changes in American society and political culture during what has been called “the American century.”

 

About the Author

Robert M. Berdahl

Robert M. Berdahl was born and grew up in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He has a B.A. from Augustana College, an M.A. from the University of Illinois, and a Ph. D. from the University of Minnesota. A historian, with a specialty in German history, he has also served as a faculty member at the University of Massachusetts-Boston (1965-67), the University of Oregon (1967-86) where he was also dean (1981-86), provost at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign (1986-1993), president of the University of Texas at Austin (1993-97), and chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley (1997-2004). In 2006 he was appointed president of the Association of American Universities. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including honorary doctorates from Augustana College, the University of Minnesota, and New York University, and the Distinguished Service Award from the University of Oregon. He is the recipient of the Clark Kerr Award for distinguished contributions to higher education from the University of California, Berkeley. He and his wife Peg live in Portland, Oregon.