Herb Schmitz has been on the ISH board for more than 30 years, having served as president and in every executive position as well as chairman of a number of committees. He attributes his long service to his personal principle of giving back. When he was an undergraduate student at the University of California at Berkeley in the 1950s, he received grants for travel study in Indonesia from both the Ford and Asia Foundations. In addition to living in Indonesia, he also lived for the better part of 10 years in Europe on both military and industrial assignments, giving him a strong appreciation for other cultures. His most valued experiences were the times when he was welcomed into the homes of those he met abroad. He believes that the immersion experience provided by student housing like the International Student House best prepares young people to understand the people of the United States and to be able to explain their own cultures to Americans and U.S. culture to those in their home countries. His strong commitment to the ISH residential scholarship committee reflects his belief in the power of shared experience in a multinational environment to enable international students to best understand how they can shape their worlds and give back to others.
