BRIDGES - Kennedy Center - Brigham Young University

18
What would you have liked to accomplish but didn’t?
Our goal was to raise $10,000,000 in the first five years. We
reached less than half that. I spent a lot of time fund-raising,
and it was something I did not always enjoy. My most satisfying
moments were the meetings we had with Glenn Nielson.
He increased his support at least three or four times. He loved
David Kennedy. He wanted to honor him and wanted no publicity
regarding his contributions.
How did your academic/professional background
affect or influence your role as director?
My academic and professional background had a direct
influence on my role as director of the Kennedy Center; it
explains my role. International issues had been of interest to me
since my formative years. I was fascinated with World War II.
Thirty-two months as a missionary to Sweden and fourteen
months in Japan with the U.S. Army were contributing factors.
My interest was enhanced at Sophia University—by doing
research in Tokyo—and at the University of Utah, where I
studied international relations under Sam Rich. After graduation,
I became a Chinese intelligence analyst for the CIA.
I studied for an MA under Robert Kenny at George
Washington. At American University, I studied under Lord
Michael Lindsay. These credentials and experiences, as well as
the influence of Ed Morrell, who was in Russian studies at
Harvard and spent a year in Moscow, Stanley Taylor, who studied
international relations at the Fletcher School of Law and
Diplomacy, and Martin Hickman, who had six years in the
diplomatic corps and was on the faculty of USC’s School of
International Relations, were significant. The shaping and
founding of international studies and the Kennedy Center were
heavily influenced by our graduate school backgrounds and
our interests and experiences at BYU.
Where do you hope to see the center’s future
involvement on campus or in the world?
For the time being, we should accept the status quo and do
what we can to restore old friendships and cement collegial
Lectures:
Rabbi Rosen, professor of Jewish studies, Jerusalem Center of
Near Eastern Studies
Princess Chulabhorn of Thailand
General Eytan Bentsur, Israeli consul
Peter Lorinez, general secretary, Hungarian Chamber of
Commerce
Guttorm Flöystad, University of Oslo
Sir Fergus Montgomery, MP
relations. Eventually, I would
like to see the center become a
school or a center within a School of
Public and International Affairs. It
should have a mix of its own
faculty and faculty with
dual appointments.
This can be accomplished
only with commitment
and an infusion of
institutional and private funding.
Did your experiences at the center
affect your world view?
If so, how?
I’m not sure. By the time I
became director, I already had a world view. That is the reason
why, in 1985, I was so excited about my appointment, and
I set about trying to respond to that world view. I had the
guidelines and inspiration. I had been fortunate to have been
one of the founders.
During the formative years of the center, Stan and I were of
the same mind and worked together. Richard Beal and Martin
Hickman became involved. Spencer Palmer and some of the
coordinators also helped shape a common world view, and
many of the same people were involved in the founding. This
vision and world view was a composite of our backgrounds,
training, and experiences.
President Holland and President Ballif called for the center
to coordinate all university international activities and
instructed us to be available to the Church. At the inauguration
on 23 November 1983, President Holland expanded on
our world view.
When I became director in 1985, there were dramatic
changes taking place in the world. This broadened our opportunities.
It provided us with several initiatives that have
expressed an expanded vision:
Arthur S. Berger, public affairs adviser, U.S. State Department’s
Bureau of Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs
Robert C. North, professor of political science,
Stanford University
Donald Zagoria, professor of international politics, Hunter College
Lynn M. Hanson, U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
Workshop:
“Canadian Studies Programs for Utah School System”