Speaking His Mind (AMERICAN COUNCIL ON EDUCATION/ORYX PRESS SERIES ON HIGHER EDUCATION) - Hardcover

An enlightening and fascinating collection of speeches by Stephen Trachtenberg, this book touches upon many of the fundamental issues facing institutions of higher education. Trachtenberg asks why, although everybody agrees something must be done about our public education system, nothing, or next to nothing, has actually happened? If what our students most lack are technical and mathematical skills, is the debate over western tradition vs. multiculturalism a red herring? Can total quality management really work in the stratified environment of American higher education? Whether examining the role of business in education, the value of political correctness, the frayed self-image of American higher education, or the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., Trachtenberg brings to each topic not only his thought-provoking insight and wry humor, but his own wealth of real-life experience in education, government, and business.

STEPHEN JOEL Trachtenberg is president, The George Washington University, Washington D.C. and professor of public administration. Formerly, he was president and professor of law and public administration at the University of Hartford. Prior to that. Trachtenberg was a vice president, dean and associate professor of political science at Boston University. Before that he was special assistant to the U.S. Education Commsioner, Department of Health, Education and Welfare, as well as serving as secretary for one of Lyndon B. Johnson's White House Task Forces on Education. He was the consulting editor to The Journal of Education, and his writing has appeared in numerous prestigious journals and newspapers. In addition, Trachtenberg serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of Educational Record, the magazine of the American Council on Education.