Rachel Andresen

Rachel Andresen (April 8, 1907 – November 3, 1988) was an American social worker and founder of Youth For Understanding (YFU), a non-profit organization dedicated to international exchanges of high-school students.

Background Andresen was born in Deerfield, Michigan on April 8, 1907. She was the daughter of Reverend Earl Rice, a Methodist minister, and Josephine Mills. Her parents motivated their seven children to be highly focused and productive, particularly with education. By the time Andresen was fourteen, she had read and consumed the Harvard Classics and the entire works of Shakespeare, which her father encouraged her to read.

She was very lively in high school and had participated in sports, drama, and music; she was also an accomplished pianist. Her nickname at Adrian High School was "Rollicking Rachel". She also did the unthinkable: she bobbed her hair, much to the dismay of her conservative parents. She graduated top of her class when she was sixteen years old. It was also at this time that she met her future husband, Henry Rose. Andresen attended the Detroit Conservatory of Music and received a BFA in music. Andresen was apprehensive of how well the concept of American families taking in students of a former enemy would be received. She managed to place all the students, many of whom barely had enough clothes to fit into one small suitcase. At the beginning of the school year they stayed at Pinebrook before they went to their host families to attend high schools in various communities in Michigan. At the end of their academic year they stayed at Pinebrook again, speaking English and having been enveloped by American culture.

Youth for Understanding On the day the students left for home, hundreds of people – host families, teachers, and students from their schools – turned out to say goodbye. The students left with suitcases of new clothes, lifelong friends, and understanding.

The YFU program began at a very grassroots level, and evolved and snowballed into a giant organization in the 25 years Andresen was at the helm. What began with a small group of students from one country ended up as a vast and global network of peace and understanding. It became the world's largest non-profit youth exchange program by the time of her retirement in 1973.

In 1972, she was honored by President Nixon at a gathering celebrating the work of Youth for Understanding.