Privilege and Prejudice is a stereotype-defying autobiography. It reveals a Black man whose good fortune in birth and heritage and opportunity of time and place helped him to forge breakthroughs in four separate careers. Clifton R. Wharton Jr. entered Harvard at age 16. The first Black student accepted to the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins, he went on to receive a doctorate in economics from the University of Chicago—another first. For twenty-two years he promoted agricultural development in Latin America and Southeast Asia, earning a post as chairman of the Rockefeller Foundation. He again pioneered higher education firsts as president of Michigan State University and chancellor of the sixty-four-campus State University of New York system. As chairman and CEO of TIAA-CREF, he was the first Black CEO of a Fortune 500 company. His commitment to excellence culminated in his appointment as deputy secretary of state during the Clinton administration. A remarkable story of persistence and courage, Privilege and Prejudice also documents the challenges of competing in a society where obstacles, negative expectations, and stereotypical thinking remained stubbornly in place. An absorbing and candid narrative, it describes a most unusual childhood, a remarkable family, and a historic career.
ContentsForewordPrefaceAcknowledgmentsPrologueChapter 1. The Beginning: Genesis and YouthChapter 2. The Student: College YearsChapter 3. The Young Economist: The AIA, Dolores Duncan, and ChicagoChapter 4. The Development Economist 1: The ADC in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, and Southeast AsiaChapter 5. The Development Economist 2: Back in the United StatesChapter 6. The President of MSU 1: The Start and Student DemonstrationsChapter 7. The President of MSU 2: Developing a Pluralistic UniversityChapter 8. The President of MSU 3: Enrichment, Athletics, and PoliticsChapter 9. The Chancellor of SUNY 1: Building a Higher Education SystemChapter 10. The Chancellor of SUNY 2: Excellence, Flexibility, and IndependenceChapter 11. The Chair and CEO of TIAA-CREF: Promoting a Future AgendaChapter 12. The Secretary: Department of StateChapter 13. The Retiree: Roles, Recognitions, and ReflectionsEpilogueAppendix 1. East Asian and Pacific Affairs Committee, U.S. Department of State, 1966–68Appendix 3. MSU All-University Presidential Search and Selection Committee, 1969Appendix 5. MSU Commission on Admissions, 1970–71Appendix 6. Rockefeller Foundation Board of Trustees, 1970Appendix 8. Presidential Commission on World Hunger, 1978Appendix 9. Independent Commission on the Future of SUNY, 1984–85Appendix 10. Department of State, USAID Task Force Members, 1993Appendix 12. Commission on New York State Student Financial Aid, 1998–2000Appendix 13. New York Stock Exchange Special Committee on Market Structure, Governance, and Ownership, 1999–2000NotesIndex
