As cultural adviser to American occupation forces in Germany at the end of World War II, Wells (standing, second from right) worked with students in a German classroom. The picture was taken in 1948.
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Following World War II, then-IU President Herman B Wells, helped in the rehabilitation of devastated war areas as deputy director and special adviser on liberated areas, U.S. Department of State Office of Foreign Economic Coordination. Prior to the war, one of Wells' ambitions had been to travel in Europe, but circumstances of employment and other matters always seemed to get in the way. Ironically, even before the European experience, the young president was subtly widening the context of the university beyond the horizons of Indiana and the United States.
It was Wells' global outlook that attracted European scholars when their countries were overrun by invading armies. The IU president encouraged many scholars to take refuge in Bloomington, and they not only enriched the faculty community, but enlarged the university's horizons.
Related story: The growth of Holocaust studies at
IU
For more on Wells, go to these IU Home Pages archival sites:
http://www.iuinfo.indiana.edu/HomePages/121099/default.htm
http://www.iuinfo.indiana.edu/HomePages/121099/text/IUMan.htm
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