Randall Cites Importance Of Liberal Arts Training

Clarence B. Randall '12, a special assistant to President Eisenhower, called last night for a "balance between the discipline of technical education and that of the liberal arts," in the face of a growing "technical hypnosis."

In the first of a series of three lectures on "A Businessman Looks at the Liberal Arts," Randall said that industry now places more value in specialized training than in liberal arts education. "The art of management," he said, "requires a broadly cultivated mind."

"This is the age of technology," Randall noted. "The scientist and the engineer have revolutionized industry by their miracles of research and invention, and have given us a physical well-being that is the envy of the world."

Must Correlate Efforts of Many

He cautioned, however, that Americans may be "yielding to technical hypnosis," and warned against thinking that industry's problems may be solved solely by engineers.

Randall, former chairman of the board of Inland Steel Corporation, said that his own experience had proved that "a general education is sound preparation for a career in business." While scientists are trained to "break the subject down into smaller areas for study," only the liberally educated man can correlate the efforts of many "into a unified and effective whole."

Foreign Economic Policy Adviser

Randall asserted that Russia's failure to turn out enough liberally educated persons, "may prove to be the Achilles heel of the Communist dynasty. Our ultimate superiority may rest upon maintaining in our country the proper balance" between scientific and liberal educations.

A former Overseer and President of the Alumni Association, Randall is a special assistant to President Eisenhower in the field of foreign economic policy.

The lecture series is under the joint sponsorship of the University and the Fund for Adult Education.