Higher Ground: My American Dreams and Nightmares in the Hidden Halls of Academia

by Linda Katehi

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 “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 highly respected innovator in the male-dominated field of engineering. It was an American Dream, embodied in her appointment in 2009 as chancellor of the University of California, Davis. As a signature proposal, she put forth a visionary plan to share her dream by expanding the university’s reach both locally and globally―adding new interdisciplinary research areas and opening the doors to more foreign-born students to make UC Davis a global beacon of education. The political backlash from opponents in the University of California system, the Davis campus, and the surrounding communities 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. Higher Ground is a lyrically written and 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.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction

288 pages, Hardcover

Published August 8, 2023

Reviews

[Roger Smitter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is very different. Early chapters come out in a way that readers might think “Higher Ground” a story that somebody has made for a story.

At the first third of the book comes out in a way that makes us look for the “story” that we were going through something that someone has made up. But at most of the time we learn what is happening as real things.

Yes, it's the read can be difficult in pages. But coming up is worth it.