UI Press | Edited by Beverly Lindsay | Ralph Johnson Bunche: Public Intellectual and Nobel Peace Laureate

Ralph Johnson Bunche

Public Intellectual and Nobel Peace Laureate

The legacy of an exceptional world leader

Nobel Peace Prize-winner Ralph Johnson Bunche (1904-71) was one of the twentieth century's foremost diplomats and intellectuals. In the wake of centennial celebrations of his birth, leading scholars and diplomats assess Bunche's historical importance and enduring impact on higher education, public policy, and international politics. Their essays reveal not only the breadth of Bunche's influence, such as his United Nations work to broker peace during times of civil war in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, but also the depth of his intellectual perspectives on race, civil rights, higher education, and international law. Probing his publications, speeches, and public policy initiatives, the volume offers telling insights into the critical roles of universities, public intellectuals, and diplomats in working together to find solutions to domestic and international problems through public and scholarly engagement. In this way, the volume highlights the very connections that Bunche exhibited as an academic, intellectual, and diplomat.

Contributors include Lorenzo DuBois Baber, John Hope Franklin, Charles P. Henry, Jonathan Scott Holloway, Ben Keppel, Beverly Lindsay, Princeton Lyman, Edwin Smith, and Hanes Walton Jr.

"Including contributions from an impressive group of ambassadors and scholars, this volume discusses many aspects of Bunche's career for the first time. Fresh perspectives on his vision of education and his impact on public research universities and liberal arts colleges are especially important. Best known for his work as a senior official for the United Nations, Bunche's work spanned a diverse range of interests that are included here, and will be of significant interest to students, academics, and professionals in diplomacy and international affairs."--Robert Edgar, author of An African-American in South Africa: The Travel Notes of Ralph J. Bunche, 1937

"This book is an excellent treatment of American intellectual history and Bunche's contribution to it as a scholar, statesman, and leader. Ralph Johnson Bunche is a must-read for diplomats and international politics students."--Edmond J. Keller, director of the UCLA Globalization Research Center-Africa

"Detailing the legacy of one of the most remarkable people I have ever worked with, Ralph Johnson Bunche is a valuable addition to the literature on an extraordinary universal public servant. This useful collection will be of outstanding interest for those concerned with education, standards of behavior in public life, leadership, the intellectual basis of international mediation, race relations in the United States, and the African American struggle for equality, respect, and dignity."--Sir Brian Urquhart, former Undersecretary-General of the United Nations

Beverly Lindsay is a professor and senior scientist of higher education and policy studies at Pennsylvania State University and is the editor of several books, including The Quest for Equity in Higher Education. She is also the first American to become a senior Fulbright specialist in South Korea and Zimbabwe, and she was awarded a Distinguished Senior Fulbright Specialist grant to Eduardo Mondlane University in Mozambique.