Academic Ambassadors in the Middle East: The University Contract Program in Turkey and Iran, 1950-1970 A dissertation presented to the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy Richard P. Garlitz November 2008 © 2008 Richard P. Garlitz. All Rights Reserved. 2 This dissertation titled Academic Ambassadors in the Middle East: The University Contract Program in Turkey and Iran, 1950-1970 by RICHARD P. GARLITZ has been approved for the Department of History and the College of Arts and Sciences by Chester J. Pach, Jr. Associate Professor of History Benjamin M. Ogles Dean, College of Arts and Sciences 3 ABSTRACT GARLITZ, RICHARD P., Ph.D., November 2008, History Academic Ambassadors in the Middle East: The University Contract Program in Turkey and Iran, 1950-1970 (276 pp.) Director of Dissertation: Chester J. Pach, Jr. This dissertation examines the performance of American university advisors in the administration of technical assistance to Turkey and Iran during the first two decades of the Cold War. University advisors sought to improve and expand both formal and informal educational opportunities by demonstrating to Turks and Iranians pedagogical and administrative practices that had worked well in the United States. In so doing, most American university personnel acted in good faith and showed a genuine concern for improving quality of life for the Turks and Iranians with whom they worked. But these academic ambassadors had to negotiate cultural traditions that they did not fully understand, and they lacked a mechanism for altering the basic values in Turkish and Iranian society. As a result, the university contract program was only partially successful in encouraging educational improvements in these two countries. American advisors achieved their most significant successes when they allowed host country officials a high degree of control over technical assistance projects even if that meant the net result would be a different kind of educational reform or institution than they had originally intended to create. The reality that some techniques that worked well in the United States would not do so abroad and the modest size of the technical 4 assistance project also combined to limit American influence on education reform and expansion in these two countries. Approved: _____________________________________________________________ Chester J. Pach, Jr. Associate Professor of History 5 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First, I want to thank the Ohio University History Department and the Contemporary History Institute (CHI) for providing a rigorous but friendly environment during my six years in Athens. Dr. Chester Pach proved to be a supportive, critical, and highly efficient advisor; Dr. Sholeh Quinn tutored me in Turkish and Iranian history and guided me through the teaching of Middle East history; Drs. John Brobst and Norman Goda grounded me in 20th century international history; Dr. Patrick Griffin helped me appreciate writing history as a craft; Dr. Jieli Li agreed to serve as a non-historian reader on my dissertation committee, and Dr. Marvin Fletcher found classes for me to teach in order to support myself during the research and writing. The department and CHI also funded several research trips and a summer of intensive foreign language work in Istanbul. I must also mention Drs. Michael Grow and Steve Miner at CHI for bringing to campus renowned experts on Middle East affairs and other interesting subjects. Finally, I thank the Graduate Student Senate for funding part of my research. Second, I want to thank my fellow graduate students who made studying at Ohio University a special experience. I especially thank my colleagues in the seminars on American Foreign Relations – Steve George, Sherry Hill, Paul Isherwood, Cassie Kleinfeltner, Christian Peterson, Jon Peterson, Mark Rice, and James Waite – for their helpful discussion and criticisms. I also thank Robert Davis – roommate, bibliographer, workout partner, meat smoker, and teaching resource. Many times… Third, I want to thank the small army of Turks who did their best to help me learn the basics of their language. These include: Bülent Bekcioğlu at The Ohio State 6 University; Muammer Serin, Hasan Mesut Meral, Aslı Altan, and Güliz Turgut at Boğaziçi (Bosporus) University; and Usame Tunager at Ohio University. I also thank The Ohio State University Center for Middle East Studies for providing me with a Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowship to begin my studies of Turkish in the summer of 2004. Fourth, I want to thank the archivists and scholars who helped me locate records and who added to my understanding of the projects that are the subject of this dissertation. At Brigham Young University, Jessie Embry shared her vast knowledge of Utah universities’ association with Point Four in Iran. She also provided me with hundreds of pages of transcripts from interviews she had done with former advisors and their families. Utah State University archivist Bob Parson was likewise very forthright with his time and knowledge of USU involvement in Iran. Whitney Miller, university archivist at Michigan State University, also helped me track down documents, as did Nancy Miller, university archivist at the University of Pennsylvania. I also want to thank Rami Regavim who shared with me his knowledge of Penn’s relationship with Pahlavi University. Last but far from least, I want to thank the staff at Ohio University’s Alden Library for their prompt and professional service. Kimberly Brooks, in particular, bailed me out of the library’s dog house on more than one occasion. Finally, I want to thank my family who provided invaluable support and diversions. My parents in particular encouraged me to pursue doctoral work. My wife Renee, who shares my intellectual interests and who has read the entire manuscript – some chapters more than once – deserves the warmest thanks of all. 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract ............................................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgments............................................................................................................... 5 Abbreviations ...................................................................................................................... 8 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 10 Chapter 1: Foreign Technical Assistance: Historical Background and Development of University Participation .............................................................................................. 24 Chapter 2: From Missionaries to Point Four: American Educators in Turkey and Iran, 1870-1953 ................................................................................................................... 54 Chapter 3: Brigham Young University Education Advisors in Iran, 1951-1955 ............. 80 Chapter 4: Taking Learning to the People: Extension Education ................................... 114 Chapter 5: Bringing the Land Grant Concept to Eastern Turkey ................................... 143 Chapter 6: Building the Shah’s University ..................................................................... 176 Chapter 7: Over Here: Turkish and Iranian Participants at American Universities ....... 211 Epilogue .......................................................................................................................... 238 Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 255 8 ABBREVIATIONS Used in text: AID United States Agency for International Development (since 1961) BYU Brigham Young University CIC Committee on Institutional Cooperation CIPA Committee on Institutional Projects Abroad (1954-1960) ECA Economic Cooperation Administration (1948-1951) FOA Foreign Operations Administration (1953-1956) IIAA Institute for Inter-American Affairs (1942-1948) ICA International Cooperation Agency (1955-1961) LDS Latter Day Saints MBA Masters of Business Administration MSA Mutual Security Agency (1950-1953) MSU Michigan State University NALGCU National Association of Land Grant Colleges and Universities (became NASULGC in 1969) NEF Near East Foundation PAKD Planlama, Arastirma, ve Koordinasyon Dairesi, Turkish Ministry of Education Planning, Research, and Coordination Office TCA Technical Cooperation Administration (1950-1952) USDA United States Department of Agriculture USU Utah State University Used in footnotes: AID Records of the United States Agency for International Development (RG 286, National Archives II, College Park, MD) BYU L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT CICPP Center for International and Comparative Programs Papers (KSU) DSB Department of State Bulletin FRUS Foreign Relations of the United States KSU Department of Special Collections and Archives, Main Library, Kent State University. NAII National Archives and Records Administration, Archives II, College Park, MD Nebraska Archives and Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries NSR1 Semiannual Report of University of Nebraska International Cooperation Administration Omnibus Contract Turkish University Program (Nebraska) OPR Office of the President Records, 1955-1970 (UPA 4, Penn) 1 The title of this report changed to simply Nebraska in