As we remember and honor Daisaku Ikeda’s life and legacy, Isabel Nuñez asks us to be particularly attentive to one of Mr. Ikeda’s deepest priorities: higher education. From the many dialogues he took part in with university leaders, to the founding of this very institution, which would not exist but for his vision and passion, Mr. Ikeda’s actions demonstrated the immense value he placed on postsecondary learning. In this historical moment, when universities are under attack in the public conversation and in the legislatures, when even those not actively denigrating the professoriate may well wonder if a college degree is worth the time and expense, it is more important than ever to uphold higher education. However, we must do this as Ikeda modeled, with courage, wisdom, and compassion, directed both inward, to ourselves, and outward, to everyone we engage on this most critical of conversations. In this way, we can become ambassadors for the university.

Isabel Nuñez is professor of educational studies and dean of the School of Education at Purdue University Fort Wayne. She holds a Ph.D. in Curriculum Studies from the University of Illinois, Chicago; an M.Phil. in Cultural Studies from Birmingham University; and a J.D. from UCLA Law. She has been a classroom teacher in Los Angeles and Birmingham, England; a newspaper journalist in Tokyo; and a visiting professor at the University of San Francisco. She has published four books with Teachers College Press and authored chapters in books from Peter Lang, Routledge, SAGE, the Oxford University Press, and the Cambridge University Press. Her work has appeared in Curriculum Inquiry, Educational Studies, the Journal of Curriculum Theorizing, and Teachers College Record. She is currently vice president of the American Educational Studies Association.

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