Introduction: The Builders and the Better Angels

In his inaugural address, President Abraham Lincoln coined a term. He lauded the contributions of the country’s many “better angels”—those good citizens who made positive differences, large or small, in the building of America. Many such individuals have existed in international education exchange, and for centuries their collective efforts assured the field’s legendary rise. Among those names most recognized in education exchange, such as Kennedy, Rockefeller, Fulbright, and Carnegie, there are many others not so well known. This book adds some of them to the historical record—men and women who made a difference in the field of student exchange through smaller but nevertheless significant efforts. Well known or not so, since the beginning individuals involved with international education have had in common the field’s central aim—the achievement of peace through learning exchange and intercultural understanding.