Ebook: The Democracy of Excellence: A Collection of Addresses

Dr. Thomas H. Hamilton’s breadth of interests enables him to speak with warmth and understanding to students, parents, educators, scholars, legislators, poets, artists, musicians, and citizens at large concerning their stake in higher education. His discerning views are frequently enlivened by a humorous approach that recognizes the occasional absurdity of human affairs. Dr. Hamilton writes against a background which includes State University of New York, which he headed from 1959 to 1963, and the University of Hawaii, of which he now is president.

The addresses presented in this volume were delivered over a five-year period between 1959 and 1964 at such widely separated localities as New York City, Honolulu, and Karachi. The divisions of the book are indicative of the issues which came under particularly close scrutiny during a period when higher education was being tested in a variety of ways. They deal with the learning process, communication and human rights, the dimensions of knowledge, the relationship of higher education to the state, and international responsibilities.