21st Century Scholar

Graduation is around the corner and you know what that means—pull out the academic regalia and prepare for some pretty boring events. At USC we have three ceremonies: on Thursday morning there is a hooding for all Ph.D. candidates in the university auditorium; on Thursday afternoon the Rossier school has a ceremony where the Ed.D. [...]

My first encounter with Dr. Pullias was around 1967 when we met as members on the CTA Commission on Higher Education. He was a professor on the USC School of Education faculty, chairman of the Higher Education Department and the epitome of a fine southern gentleman. With each Commission meeting I attended, I became more [...]

Dr. Pullias encouraged me to see a vision of what I could accomplish in my life. I would never have achieved a Ph.D. in Education without him. I would never have become a college president without his guidance and influence. I grew in my association with him and that growth continues to this day. Dr. [...]

My first encounter with Dr. Pullias was perhaps not unusual. I had just begun my college teaching career in marine biology, and like many young assistant professors, I was seeking to make my way up the salary scale by taking additional graduate coursework. I had some G.I. Bill funds left after my master’s degree, and, [...]

After his retirement, summing up a lifetime of study and thought, Earl Pullias wrote a lengthy article, “Problems We Face—The Thoughts of a Concerned Citizen,” and listed 10of his concerns:  Discrimination—“the gross and often cruel evils of artificially discriminating against various classes of people.” “The treatment of women is one of the saddest and indeed [...]

Professor Pullias is unforgettable for many reasons, but two stand out: One, his popular course, Higher Education in the United States. The topic itself was unfamiliar to most of us. Few of us had given it much thought. However by the end of his course we were knowledgeable about even more than the history of [...]

This is a special week for the university, the Rossier School, and our Center. Although we have had an annual lecture since 1979, this is the first time the lecture will be held under the auspices of the Pullias Center for Higher Education. I never knew Dr. Pullias, but I knew his son, and heard [...]

Conditions and contexts change. How we use and read the newspaper today is different from a generation ago. How we think and use institutions also changes. Just as we saw a transformation from stores that sold only one item such as meat or fish into supermarkets where we could buy all of our food, we [...]

The phrase the “ivory tower” has a curious connotation. Common interpretations of the phrase are usually pejorative; “he’s off in his ivory tower” suggests that the academic is disengaged from the “real world” studying esoteric pursuits that do not relate directly to what is happening in society. At the same time, my understanding of the [...]

It’s funny how a word can catch currency and all of a sudden you see it everywhere. The latest term of note is “moneyball.” Michael Lewis invented the idea with his book about the Oakland A’s general manager, Billy Beane. Brad Pitt recently starred as Beane in the movie of the same name. The idea [...]