Robert W. Fuller
Encyclopedia
Robert W. Fuller earned his Ph.D.
in physics
at Princeton University
in 1961, and taught at Columbia University
where he co-authored the book Mathematics of Classical and Quantum Physics. The mounting social unrest of the 1960's, and Fuller's commitment to educational reform--which he had already demonstrated as a Columbia dean--led his alma mater, Oberlin College
, in 1970, to make him its tenth president, succeeding Robert Carr. At age 33, Fuller became one of the youngest college presidents in U.S. history.
During his Oberlin presidency--a turbulent time at Oberlin and in higher education generally--Fuller reshaped the student body by tripling the enrollment of minorities at the college. He also recruited and hired the first four African-American athletic coaches in a predominantly white American college or university, including Tommie Smith
, the Gold Medalist sprinter from the 1968 Summer Olympics
in Mexico City
. (Another of his hires was Jack Scott as athletic director.) Fuller was interviewed on campus by Howard Cosell
and appeared on primetime television to talk about these changes.
In 1974, after four years of service as Oberlin's president, Fuller considered that he had fulfilled his mission and resigned the office.
, Fuller had witnessed the famine caused by war with Pakistan
, a war that saw the emergence of Bangladesh
as an independent nation. With the election of President Jimmy 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
helped lead to the establishment of the Presidential Commission on World Hunger. In January 1975, Fuller co-authored A look at est in education with Zara Wallace
on the topic of Erhard Seminars Training
.
During the 1970's and 1980's, Fuller traveled frequently to the Soviet Union
, working as a citizen-scientist to improve superpower relations during the Cold War
. This effort led to the creation of the non-profit global corporation Internews, which promotes democracy via free and independent media. For many years Fuller served as its chairman, working with Kim Spencer and David M. Hoffman
(founders of Internews
), Evelyn Messinger, Alia Johnson and John Steiner, among other individuals.
With the collapse of the USSR, Fuller’s turn as a citizen-diplomat came to a close. Reflecting on the different roles he had played, he came to understand that he had, at various times, enjoyed the status of a "somebody" while at other times he had embraced the position of a "nobody." His experiences in “nobodyland” led him to identify rankism
--a term he coined, and defined as the abuse of the power conferred by rank.
In 2003, Fuller published his seminal work, Somebodies and Nobodies: Overcoming the Abuse of Rank (New Society Publishers). The book inspired a group in Virginia to set up the Dignitarian Foundation. He published a sequel that focused on building a dignitarian society titled All Rise: Somebodies, Nobodies, and the Politics of Dignity (Berrett-Koehler, 2006).
In 2008, Fuller and co-author Pamela A. Gerloff released an eighty-six page "action-oriented guide" titled Dignity for All: How to Create a World Without Rankism. Fuller currently maintains a blog at www.breakingranks.net, and he also writes regular articles for The Huffington Post, Psychology Today and OpenLeft.
with his wife, Claire Sheridan. He has four children and four grandchildren.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
in 1961, and taught at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
where he co-authored the book Mathematics of Classical and Quantum Physics. The mounting social unrest of the 1960's, and Fuller's commitment to educational reform--which he had already demonstrated as a Columbia dean--led his alma mater, Oberlin College
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
, in 1970, to make him its tenth president, succeeding Robert Carr. At age 33, Fuller became one of the youngest college presidents in U.S. history.
During his Oberlin presidency--a turbulent time at Oberlin and in higher education generally--Fuller reshaped the student body by tripling the enrollment of minorities at the college. He also recruited and hired the first four African-American athletic coaches in a predominantly white American college or university, including Tommie Smith
Tommie Smith
Tommie Smith is an African American former track & field athlete and wide receiver in the American Football League. At the 1968 Summer Olympics, Smith won the 200-meter dash finals in 19.83 seconds – the first time the 20 second barrier was broken...
, the Gold Medalist sprinter from the 1968 Summer Olympics
1968 Summer Olympics
The 1968 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Mexico City, Mexico in October 1968. The 1968 Games were the first Olympic Games hosted by a developing country, and the first Games hosted by a Spanish-speaking country...
in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
. (Another of his hires was Jack Scott as athletic director.) Fuller was interviewed on campus by Howard Cosell
Howard Cosell
Howard William Cosell was an American sports journalist who was widely known for his blustery, cocksure personality. Cosell said of himself, "Arrogant, pompous, obnoxious, vain, cruel, verbose, a showoff. I have been called all of these...
and appeared on primetime television to talk about these changes.
In 1974, after four years of service as Oberlin's president, Fuller considered that he had fulfilled his mission and resigned the office.
Ventures in Social Reform
In 1971, on a visit to IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Fuller had witnessed the famine caused by war with Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, a war that saw the emergence of Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
as an independent nation. With the election of President Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
, Fuller began a campaign to persuade the new president to end world hunger. In 1977, Fuller co-founded The Hunger Project
The Hunger Project
The Hunger Project is a 501 non-profit charitable organization incorporated in the state of California.The Hunger Project describes itself as an organization committed to the sustainable end of world hunger...
, along with Werner Erhard
Werner Erhard
Werner Hans Erhard is an author of transformational models and applications for individuals, groups, and organizations...
and John Denver
John Denver
Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr. , known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer/songwriter, activist, and humanitarian. After growing up in numerous locations with his military family, Denver began his music career in folk music groups in the late 1960s. His greatest commercial success...
. His June 1977 meeting with Carter in the Oval Office
Oval Office
The Oval Office, located in the West Wing of the White House, is the official office of the President of the United States.The room features three large south-facing windows behind the president's desk, and a fireplace at the north end...
helped lead to the establishment of the Presidential Commission on World Hunger. In January 1975, Fuller co-authored A look at est in education with Zara Wallace
Zara Wallace
Zara Wallace is an American author and editor. She is the author of A look at est in education and editor of -Publications:...
on the topic of Erhard Seminars Training
Erhard Seminars Training
Erhard Seminars Training, an organization founded by Werner H. Erhard, offered a two-weekend course known officially as "The est Standard Training"...
.
During the 1970's and 1980's, Fuller traveled frequently to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, working as a citizen-scientist to improve superpower relations during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. This effort led to the creation of the non-profit global corporation Internews, which promotes democracy via free and independent media. For many years Fuller served as its chairman, working with Kim Spencer and David M. Hoffman
David M. Hoffman
David M. Hoffman is Chief Executive Officer of Internews Network, a global non-profit organization that fosters independent media and access to information worldwide...
(founders of Internews
Internews
Internews Network is an international non-profit organization whose mission is to empower local media worldwide to give people the news and information they need, the ability to connect, and the means to make their voices heard...
), Evelyn Messinger, Alia Johnson and John Steiner, among other individuals.
With the collapse of the USSR, Fuller’s turn as a citizen-diplomat came to a close. Reflecting on the different roles he had played, he came to understand that he had, at various times, enjoyed the status of a "somebody" while at other times he had embraced the position of a "nobody." His experiences in “nobodyland” led him to identify rankism
Rankism
Rankism is "abusive, discriminatory, or exploitative behavior towards people because of their rank in a particular hierarchy".Rank-based abuse underlies many other phenomena such as bullying, racism, sexism, and homophobia. The term "rankism" was coined by physicist, educator, and citizen diplomat...
--a term he coined, and defined as the abuse of the power conferred by rank.
In 2003, Fuller published his seminal work, Somebodies and Nobodies: Overcoming the Abuse of Rank (New Society Publishers). The book inspired a group in Virginia to set up the Dignitarian Foundation. He published a sequel that focused on building a dignitarian society titled All Rise: Somebodies, Nobodies, and the Politics of Dignity (Berrett-Koehler, 2006).
In 2008, Fuller and co-author Pamela A. Gerloff released an eighty-six page "action-oriented guide" titled Dignity for All: How to Create a World Without Rankism. Fuller currently maintains a blog at www.breakingranks.net, and he also writes regular articles for The Huffington Post, Psychology Today and OpenLeft.
Personal life
Fuller lives in Berkeley, CaliforniaBerkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
with his wife, Claire Sheridan. He has four children and four grandchildren.
Books
- A look at est in education: Analysis, review and selected case studies of the impact of the est experience on educators and students in primary, secondary, and post-secondary education, by Robert W. Fuller and Zara WallaceZara WallaceZara Wallace is an American author and editor. She is the author of A look at est in education and editor of -Publications:...
, published January 1, 1975, by est, an educational corporation. Joan HolmesJoan HolmesJoan Holmes , founding president of The Hunger Project, also served as one of 31 members on 'Task Force 2 on Hunger' of the UN Millennium Project of 2000-2006. Holmes worked As a consulting educational psychologist for Erhard Seminars Training prior to establishing The Hunger Project in...
, current president of The Hunger ProjectThe Hunger ProjectThe Hunger Project is a 501 non-profit charitable organization incorporated in the state of California.The Hunger Project describes itself as an organization committed to the sustainable end of world hunger...
, served as consulting educational psychologist for the preparation of the book. - Mathematics of Classical and Quantum Physics, co-authored with Frederick Byron, Jr. (a Dover Classic)
- Somebodies and Nobodies: Overcoming the Abuse of Rank. New Society Publishers, 2003.
- All Rise: Somebodies, Nobodies, and the Politics of Dignity, sequel to Somebodies and Nobodies. Berrett-Koehler PublishersBerrett-Koehler PublishersBerrett-Koehler Publishers is a book publishing company in San Francisco, California, that publishes books on progressive business practices, current events, and work/life issues.- History :...
, 2006. - Dignity for All: How to Create a World Without Rankism , co-author Pam Gerloff. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2008.
Physics articles
- Effect of a Composition Dependent Surface Tension upon the Masses and Stability of Heavy Nuclei, With R. Brandt, F. G. Werner, M. Wakano and J. A. Wheeler. Proc. of International Conference on Nuclidic Masses, Hamilton, (1960).
- Dependence on Neutron Production in Fission on Rate of Change of Nuclear Potential (Thesis with John A. Wheeler), Physical Review 126, 684 (1962).
- Causality and Multiply Connected Space-Time, with John A. Wheeler, Physical Review 128, 919 (1962).
- S-Matrix Solution for the Forced Harmonic Oscillator, with S. M. Harris and E. L. Slaggie. American Journal of Physics 31, 431 (1963).
Other articles
- On the Origin of Order in Behavior, General Systems, Vol. XI, pp. 99–112 (1966) MHRI, Univ. of Michigan (co-authored with Peter Putnam)
- Causal and Moral Law—Their Relationship as Examined in Terms of a Model of the Brain, Center for Advanced Studies, Wesleyan University, Monday Evening Papers: # 13 (1967) (On Peter Putnam’s work.)
- On Educating Model-Builders, Publication of the 18th Symposium of the Conference on Science, Philosophy, and Religion, Jewish Theological Seminary, (1968)
- Project Rebound: A Science Course of Near-Drop-outs, Science Education News (AAAS) Nov. 1969.
- Polar Bears, Walrus Hides, and Social Solidarity, The Alaska Journal, Vol. 3, No. 2; Spring, 1973 (with Sergei Bogojavlensky).
- Inflation: The Rising Cost of Living on a Small Planet, Worldwatch Paper, No. 34, Fall 1979.
- Inflation on a Small Planet, Economic Impact, 1980, No. 3.
- Inflation as a World Problem, Cry California, 1980, Summer
- Our Enemies, Our Selves, CoEvolution Quarterly, Spring 1980.
- A Better Game Than War, Evolutionary Blues, 1983. The Utne Reader Vol. 1, No. 1, Feb. 1984; Reprinted in The Peace Catalog, Press for Peace, Seattle, WA.; and in Citizen Summitry: Keeping the Peace when it Matters Too Much to be Left to Politicians, J. Tarcher, L.A., and St. Martin's, N.Y.C., 1986.
- Motzu in Kenya and Poland, CoEvolution Quarterly, Spring 1983.
- Motzuing: Notes on Discussions Regarding Nuclear Winter and Space Bridges with Chinese and Soviet Scientists, Whole Earth Review, May, 1985.
- We Are All Afrikaners, Annals of Earth, Vol. IV, #2, 1986. Reprinted in In Context, No. 14, Autumn 1986.
- AmerRuss, Whole Earth Review, Winter 1986; updated, as One World Scenario, Whole Earth Review, Fall 1990.
- Proposal for a World Peace Corps, included in the anthology Securing our Planet: How to Succeed When Threats Are Too Risky and There's Really No Defense, J. Tarcher, L.A., and St. Martin's, N.Y.C., 1986.
- The Asian Vortex, (with Robert Cabot), Harvard Magazine, November 1987. Reprinted in Resurgence, March–April 1988, Issue 127.
- Chasing Our Shadow, New Age JournalNew Age JournalNew Age Journal, or New Age: The Journal for Holistic Living was an American periodical prominent in the late 20th century, and defining itself as covering topics related to the period's "New Age"; it has been succeeded, in turn, by Body & Soul, and under new ownership by Body + Soul.It was founded...
, Jan. 1988; Interview by David Hoffman. - From Physics to Peace, included in the anthology At the Leading Edge, edited by Michael Toms, Larson Publications, Burdett, N.Y., 1991.
- Empire’s End, Russia’s Rebirth, (with Robert Cabot), Harvard Magazine, May–June, 1991, Volume 93, No. 5. (Also published in Annals of Earth, May, 1991.) Also, Should We Help Russia?, Harvard Magazine, (October, 1991).
- A description of citizen diplomacy, which includes a description of the “Motzu” project, may be found in the book Multi-Track Diplomacy: A Systems Guide and Analysis, by Louise Diamond and John McDonald, Iowa Peace Institute (1991).
- The Future of Equality, The Deeper News, A Global Business Network Publication, Volume 4, Number 1, February 1993.
- Section in All of Us: Americans Talk About the Meaning of Death, Edited by Patricia Anderson, Delacorte Press, N. Y., N. Y. (1996), pp. 323–327.