I am greatly honored and immensely pleased to be invited to present the first Charles H. Thompson Memorial Lecture. Before I turn to the subject of this address, however, I would like to say a few words about Charles H. Thompson, as I trust future lecturers who knew him personally will do, for our number will inevitably grow smaller as the years go by; but if each lecturer who knew Charles Thompson personally would follow this suggestion, something approaching the real dimensions of the man will emerge before the memories of this great educator fade, and finally disappear. Dr. Charles H. Thompson, the first black American to earn a Ph.D. in education, was one of the most able and distinguished educators this nation has produced. Indeed, if there were Nobel prizes for educators, and I think there ought to be, he would have been a Nobel Laureate-assuming any fair, informed selection procedure. Charles H. Thompson was, first of all, a tough, intellectually challenging teacher who, by his relentless efforts to teach students how to think their way through real educational problems, made a major difference in the lives and careers of those of us who were privileged to be his students. He was also an able resourceful administrator, and Howard University is a stronger and a far more highly respected institution because of his deanships-first of the College of Liberal Arts and later of the Graduate School. But