A university professor of educational leadership, Kauffman believed that education is key to making the world a better place. He started his career in government service, as a consultant to the Commission on Academic Affairs for the American Council on Education, and as director of higher education for the American Personnel and Guidance Association. He also was a consultant to the State Department, the federal Office of Economic Opportunity and other agencies.
During the 1960s, when John F. Kennedy was running for president, Kauffman advocated for a national youth corps. When JFK won, he appointed R. Sargent Shriver Jr. to create the Peace Corps. Kauffman served on his staff, where he helped Shriver design the Corps. As the Corps’ first Director of Training, he developed training programs at more than 60 colleges and universities, and supervised the training of the first volunteers who went on assignments overseas. After returning to academia, he spent most of his career as a professor in the Department of Educational Administration at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and retired in 1987. Kauffman died September 29 from cancer. He was 84.