Clark Kerr is President Emeritus of the University of California and former Chancellor and Professor Emeritus of Economics and Industrial Relations at Berkeley. He chaired and directed the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education as well as the National Commission on Strengthening Presidential Leadership under the auspices of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges. Dr. Kerr, author of The Uses of the University, currently co-chairs a Task Force on State Policy and Independent Higher Education for the Education Commission of the States.

"This is a first-rate source of historical information from one who was personally involved in most of the issues. Clark Kerr pulls together the many currents that were running through the community of higher education in these post-war years to clarify the relevance and importance of these institutions to the ongoing of American society. He shows the enormous value to this country and to the free world of the great American universities, and he underlines the necessity for maintaining and enhancing these institutions to assure America's place as a leader of thought and social action in the free world." — William Friday, President Emeritus, The University of North Carolina

• ForewordPrologue—TransformationsI. The American System in Perspective Introduction to Part One1. The American Strategy among Several Alternatives—Five Strategies for Education, and Their Major Variants2. Heritage—Education in the United States: Past Assignments and Accomplishments3. Structure—The American Mixture of Higher Education in Perspective: Four Dimensions4. Functions—The Pluralistic University in the Pluralistic Society5. Vignette—Remembering Flexner6. Vignette—Disagreeing with Hutchins7. Performance—Goals for and Effectiveness of Systems of Higher EducationII. The Unfolding of the Great Transformation: 1960-1980 Introduction to Part Two8. Ex Ante—The Frantic Race to Remain Contemporary9. In Transitu—What We Might Learn from the Climacteric10. Ex Post—The Climacteric in Review11. Vignette—Faculty: The Moods of Academia12. Vignette—Students: The Exaggerated Generation13. Vignette—Society: Industrial Relations and University Relations14. Vignette—A Possible Residue The Intellectual versus Society: A Source of Conflict? III. Governance and Leadership under Pres sureIntroduction to Part Three15. Changing Loci of Power—Governance and Functions16. Changing Administrative Styles—Administration in an Era of Change and Conflict17. Holding the Center—Presidential Discontent18. Vignette—New Complications: The Multicampus System19. Vignette—Enter the Federal Government: The Evolution of the Federal Role20. Vignette—Reenter the States The States and Higher Education: Changes Ahead21. An Eternal Issue—Caesar and God IV. Academic Innovation and Reform: Much Innovation, Little Reform Introduction to Part Four22. Rebuilding Communities of Scholars—Toward the More Perfect University23. Who Should Lead? Liberal Learning: A Record of Presidential Neglect24. Vignette—How Hard It Is: Foreword to Great Expectations and Mixed Performance25. An Urban versus a Rural Society—The Urban-Grant University: A Model for the Future26. Vignette—A Residual Role for Higher Education Education and the World of Work: An Analytical Sketch27. Vignette—The Longer Term: Review Article, "An Agenda for Higher Education"28. The Eternal Verities—Universities: Open to Truth and MeritEpilogue—Reflections