Higher Ground

My American Dreams and Nightmares in the Hidden Halls of Academia

An emotionally devastating window into the hidden world of academia—at once an intimate personal history, a high-tension workplace drama, and an unforgettable spiritual journey.

When Linda Katehi was six years old, growing up in war-ravaged Greece, she turned to her mother and said, “I do not want to be poor!” Her mother replied: “Then go to school and be a good student. This is the only thing that can save you.”

She relentlessly pursued the dream that was born that day, overcoming sexism and xenophobia to graduate college as one of two women in her class and become a respected innovator in the male-dominated field of engineering. It was an American Dream.

As an administrator, she was driven by a visionary plan to share her dream by expanding the reach of universities both locally and globally—adding new interdisciplinary research areas and opening the doors to more foreign-born students to make higher education a global beacon of education.

The backlash from those who feared change was familiar and vitriolic. It turned her dream into a nightmare that only ended when she let go of what she thought she wanted most, to lead change in higher education.