Ivory Towers and Nationalist Minds traces the rise of the great American universities through their formative years, 1862-1920, and examines their impact on the evolution of American society and government. An evocative political history, Nemec's work describes the role of universities and their leadership in shaping American politics and public policy, providing the intellectual and institutional apparatus needed to legitimize and consolidate federal authority. Nemec contends that the influx of academic expertise into the developing American state was fostered by campus entrepreneurs who were seeking to establish the social relevance of their institutions, rather than by the states themselves. ""Ivory Towers and Nationalist Minds"" will be of interest to students and scholars of politics and American history, and those seeking to understand the impacts of higher education on public policy.