John Stephenson established ties with a diverse group of notable people whom he brought to speak at Berea College, from Roots author Alex Haley, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, to His Holiness, The Dalai Lama.
He was selected as an American Council on Education Fellow in 1973-74, and as a Fulbright Senior Research Scholar in 1981, which he used for research in Scotland which was presented in his book, Ford: A Village in the West Highlands of Scotland (1984).