Kaufman, Wallace

Author, teacher, naturalist, environmental activist, and World Bank consultant Wallace Vickers Kaufman was a 1961 graduate of Duke University's Trinity College majoring in English.

From the description of Wallace Kaufman papers, 1959-1994. (Duke University Library). WorldCat record id: 31421818

Wallace Vickers Kaufman was born April 10th, 1939 in Queens, New York . Kaufman came to Duke University to study English in 1957, taking his A.B. in 1961. He also studied at Merton College at Oxford University as a Marshall Scholar from 1961-1963.

Along with fellow classmates and writers Fred Chappel and Anne Tyler, Kaufman's writing was fosterd under the direction of William Blackburn. Also while at Duke Kaufman developed a close student-mentor relationship with author Reynolds Price. Kaufman and Price continued to correspond well into Kaufman's own professional career. After graduating, Kaufman taught high school sciences courses, middle school English, and writing courses at Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. While a resident of Chatham County, Kaufman developed an interest in land development projects that included caveats for environmental protection. An extension of this interest led to involvment with, among otehr regional and national environmental organizations, the Conservation Council of North Carolina (CCNC), an organization that Kaufman eventually chaired. Kaufman also served on several local and state boards of realtors, the North Carolina Land Stewardship Council, and Conservation Fund, North Carolina. At this time, Kaufman also travelled extensively in Latin America. During his travels Kaufman promoted indigenous writers, particularly Guatemalan writer Victor Dinoicio Montejo.

In the mid-1990s Kaufman began consulting work for the World Bank and the International City/County Management Association in nations of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc, including Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland and Kazakhstan, the final Soviet Republic to declare independence. This work encompassed a broad scope of work including advising local residents on land and housing reform, teaching property valuation, investigating the effectiveness of aid projects, economic surveys, and some work training local journalists. In 2001 Kaufman relocated to western Oregon where he began a career in arbitration and mediation.

From the guide to the Wallace Kaufman Papers, 1959-1994, (David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University)