When I came to the end of the third year of my Kellogg Fellowship, my then seven-year-old son said, “Daddy, What are we going to do when the Kellogg Fellowship is over?”

When I came to the end of the third year of my Kellogg Fellowship, my then seven-year-old son said, “Daddy, What are we going to do when the Kellogg Fellowship is over?” Of course, my family had accompanied me on travels to Europe and Asia, and all of us had been transformed by the experiences. The theme of “global interdependence,” which our parents could scarcely have imagined became second nature to our children. I replied, “Don’t worry, we will continue to be interested in the peoples of the world.” I think I sensed then, but could not fully appreciate that the next generation would have to become “citizens of the world”. How easily they sensed that languages were for communication. How could they CHILDREN understand themselves as Americans and their place and responsibilities in the world if they did not see themselves through the eyes of others?

Now twenty years later I am closer to the end of my career (and as a seven-year cancer survivor) appreciate that time is precious and that there more things that need to be done that I will be able to accomplish. I appreciate the opportunities the Fellowship experience afforded my family and me. I have set up a small “foundation” from my honoraria and royalties to be managed by my children and their spouses to promote “world citizenship and global stewardship.”

This essay and portrait is part of a community-art and leadership project called “wdydwyd?” Tony Deifell (KNLP-16) invited his colleagues in the Kellogg Fellowship to reflect on what motivates them to follow their personal and professional paths by answering the question, “Why do you do what you do?”


“wdydwyd?” has reached over 1.5 million people worldwide and it has been used for team-building at Google, Twitter, many colleges and universities, nonprofits and K-12 classrooms. And, according to Wired Magazine, “In Silicon Valley, that question has been the hottest team-building meme since Outward Bound – and it’s spreading.” For more information: http://wdydwyd.com/leadership.


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