Under the leadership of Frederick Paul Keppel (1875-1943) Carnegie Corporation's Dominions and Colonies Fund supported a vast array of philanthropic projects in the dominions and colonies of the Britain's interwar empire. The career of F. P. Keppel is important to historians of education because many of the interwar Carnegie initiatives internationalized American progressive practices in education, and approached the highly sensitive issue of racial justice in a manner that resonated with the American experience, particularly in South Africa. This article details how Frederick Paul Keppel's significant life and work experiences prepared him for the presidency of Carnegie Corporation. The article also examines how Keppel assisted by James Earl Russell, the former dean of Teachers College, Columbia, established a complex, yet remarkably informal, international network of area experts he termed his "key men."