Theodore W. Friend III

Top Professional of the Year 2018

A graduate of Williams College and Yale University, Mr. Friend has dedicated his career to improving the world around him. Upon completing his education, Theodore began his academic career as an assistant professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo before becoming a history professor. In 1968, he would be named Faculty Advisor and served as Executive Assistant to the President in 1969. In 1973 he was selected as the 11th President of Swarthmore College, a position he would hold until his resignation in 1982. During his tenure at Swarthmore, he created the Advisory Council on Resource Use, and led the faculty in a careful evaluation of the Honors Program.

After leaving his post at Swarthmore, he served as a Trustee of the Eisenhower Exchange Fellowships, Inc., before becoming president in 1984. Mr. Friend would also serve the Philadelphia Committee on Foreign Relations in the mid-late 1980’s. His published works include the work Family Laundry: A Novel, as well as two historical studies, Between Two Empires: The Ordeal of the Philippines, and The Blue-Eyed Enemy: Japan against the West in Java and Luzon, 1942-1945. Friend would receive the Bancroft Prize in American History and Foreign Relations for Between Two Empire: The Ordeal of the Philippines. Mr. Friend has been recognized multiple times over the course of his career, including a Fulbright fellowship, the Rockefeller Foundation fellowship, NDEA fellowship, a Guggenheim Foundation fellowship, and a Woodrow Wilson International Center fellowship.

To date, Mr. Friend is still serving the Eisenhower Exchange Fellowships Inc. and enjoying his time with his family.