A Paradoxical Partnership in Higher Education: The Alliance between Alfred C. Kinsey and Herman B Wells

Herman B Wells served as president of Indiana University from 1938 to 1962--from the days of the Great Depression into the turbulent 1960s. Alfred C. Kinsey was a professor, zoologist, and human sexuality researcher at Indiana University from 1920 until his death in 1956. A unique and paradoxical professional relationship existed between these two dissimilar men. The characteristics and personalities of each man impacted their respective individual and collaborative work and the outcomes both men gained through that partnership. The careers of both Kinsey and Wells would increase and flourish as a result of the unique and paradoxical partnership they developed on the Bloomington, Indiana campus.