Robert W. Fuller

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Robert W. Fuller earned his Ph.D. in physics at Princeton University in 1961, and taughtDignitarian Foundation, Conversation with Robert W. Fuller, 2004-2006, http://www.dignitarians.org/conversationRobertFu.html at Columbia University where he co-authored the book Mathematics of Classical and Quantum Physics. The mounting social unrest of the 1960s drew his attention to educational reform, and in 1970 he was appointed president of his alma mater Oberlin College at the age of 33, one of youngest college Presidents in US history. During his time at Oberlin, Fuller re-shaped the student body by tripling the enrollment of minorities at the college. Fuller also recruited and hired the first four African-American athletic coaches in in a predominately white American college or university, including Tommy Smith, the Gold Medalist sprinter from the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. Fuller was interviewed on campus by [Howard Cosell] and appeared on primetime television to talk about these changes.

Contents

1 Witnesses Famine
2 Meets Werner Erhard
3 Promotes Democracy
4 Citizen Diplomacy
5 Work on Rankism
6 Family
7 Further reading

7.1 Publications
7.2 External links

8 References

Witnesses Famine

In 1974 Fuller traveled to India (as a consultant to Indira Gandhi) and there witnessed firsthand the famine resulting from the war with Pakistan over what became Bangladesh. With the election of President Carter, Fuller began a campaign to persuade the new president to end world hunger. In 1977, Fuller co-founded The Hunger Project, along with Werner Erhard and John Denver. His June 1977 meeting with Carter in the Oval Office in June 1977 helped lead to the establishment of the [Presidential Commission on World Hunger].

Meets Werner Erhard

During this period, Fuller met Werner Erhard, founder of est/Erhard Seminars Training. In January 1975, he co-authored A look at est in education with Zara Wallace, published by est, an educational corporation. Joan Holmes, current president of The Hunger Project, served as consulting educational psychologist for the preparation of the book.

Promotes Democracy

During the 1970s and 1980s, Fuller traveled frequently to the USSR, working as a citizen-scientist to improve the Cold War relationship. This work led to the creation of the non-profit global corporation [Internews], which promotes democracy via free and independent media, and for many years Fuller served as its chairman.

Citizen Diplomacy

Fuller traveled the world to promote peace, stopping in Afghanistan, Somalia, Israel, Northern Ireland, Russia, and other world hot spots to meet with problem solvers and decisionmakers in order to develop solutions. Fuller and colleagues helped to found a new form of diplomacy called "citizen diplomacy", which enabled them to circumvent oft-ossified bureaucracies not flexible enough to enable positive change. Fuller worked with Kim Spencer and David Hoffman (founders of Internews), Evelyn Messinger, Alia Johnson, and John Steiner. Kim Spencer went on to found [Link TV], the US based television channel available on Dish Network 9410 and DirecTV 375, dedicated to documentaries, world news, current affairs, and the "World Music" genre - a channel on which Fuller frequently appears.

Work on Rankism

With the collapse of the USSR, Fuller’s work as a citizen diplomat came to a close and he began reflecting on his career and came to understand that he had, at various times, been a somebody and a nobody and the cycle was continuing. His periodic sojourns in “Nobodyland” led him to identify and investigate rankism – defined as abuse of the power inherent in rank – and ultimately to write [Somebodies and Nobodies: Overcoming the Abuse of Rank](New Society Publishers, 2003). This book inspired a group in Virginia to set up the [Dignitarian Foundation]. He has now published a sequel that focuses on building a dignitarian society titled [All Rise: Somebodies, Nobodies, and the Politics of Dignity] (Berrett-Koehler, 2006)

Family

Fuller lives in Berkeley, California with his wife. Fuller has 4 children - 2 living on the West Coast and 2 living on the East Coast. His daughter, Karen Fuller, works to decrease rankism in the healthcare industry. His oldest son, Ben Fuller, works for Link TV and has been involved in Dignitarian Movement since its early days. Fuller also has 3 grandchildren.

References

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