In this first interview of three, William Barber discusses topics including: childhood in Depression-era Kansas; attending Harvard on scholarship; time as a soldier in WWII; attending Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar; work as Assistant Professor at Kansas State; work in Washington D.C. as an economic analyst; futher studies at Oxford (PhD); marriage to wife Sheila; working in the Economics Department at Wesleyan; work as Chairman of College of Social Studies; specialization in the History of Economic Thought; work with Gunnar Myrdal; publishing of specialized economics books; integration of black students at Wesleyan; reflections on successes of student alumni.