Email from President Richard H. Brodhead About 'Personnel Leadership Changes'
The following email was sent Monday evening to deans and officers of Duke University
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Durham, NC -- I write to report two significant personnel changes that will affect our administrative organization – one involving the University Secretary, the other Duke’s involvement with Durham and the region. The first relates to our valued colleague Vice President and University Secretary Allison Haltom. Allison informed me and the Board of Trustees several months ago that she plans to step down from her position at the end of December 2007. Over the course of 36 years at Duke, Allison has served under four presidents in roles of increasing responsibility. She was Duke’s first woman fund raiser and the first to direct the Annual Fund. In 1986 she was named university secretary. In 2001 she was named vice president in recognition of her broader university responsibilities, including the University Marshal’s office and all major university ceremonies such as opening convocations and commencements.
A 1972 alumna of the Woman’s College, Allison represents the best of Duke. She understands and appreciates Duke’s history, culture, and values, and my predecessors and I, as well as the board chairs she has served, have benefited from Allison’s wise counsel and support. I am especially grateful for her assistance in managing my transition to Duke, which she handled with expert care. Allison’s service to her alma mater reaches from admissions, where she started her career, to alumni programs, where she serves on the Alumni Association’s board of directors. Among her many leadership roles within Duke have been her service on the Women’s Studies Council and the Steering Committee on the Status of Women. Allison is also a recognized national leader in the development of programs for board professionals sponsored by the Association of Governing Boards.
The intelligence, warmth, savvy, and commitment that have characterized Allison’s service to Duke have been shared with many other institutions and organizations. Allison has served on the board of trustees at UNC-Asheville, and is currently a member of the board of the North Carolina School of the Arts as well as its Foundation. She chaired and continues to serve on the board of directors at the Hill Center, which honored her last year with its Star Volunteer Leadership Award for leadership and service. The Durham Child Care Services Association also recognized Allison’s distinguished service as a member of its board with the Dorothy B. Graham Child Care Leadership Award in 2005.
We will have many opportunities over the coming months to convey our affection and appreciation to Allison. I will immediately begin a process of considering how the many duties she assumed can be performed going forward, and I invite you to share your thoughts regarding both the position and possible candidates.
In “Making a Difference,” Duke gives high priority to reaching beyond the campus to strengthen local, regional, and international partnerships. This includes building on many strong programs already underway with Durham, including the Neighborhood Partnership, economic development in areas near the campus and in downtown, and our partnerships with the public schools and our sister institutions, North Carolina Central University and Durham Technical Community College. The strategic plan also recognizes the importance of the Research Triangle Park and calls for us to develop more “tightly organized administrative leadership and a strategic plan for our regional partnership efforts.”
After consultation with the Board of Trustees, the senior leadership of the university, ECAC, and others, I am very pleased to announce that we have established a new position, Vice President for Durham and Regional Affairs, and that Dr. Phail Wynn will join my senior administrative team in this critically important role. Dr. Wynn has led Durham Technical Community College since 1980. Durham Tech is a recognized national leader in providing customized training programs in various high technology areas and has done so for most of the firms in Research Triangle Park. Dr. Wynn knows Durham, the Research Triangle Park, and our region as few others do. His community and regional leadership includes membership on the boards of directors of many of the most active and important educational, business, government, and nonprofit organizations in our community, the Research Triangle, and North Carolina. He has also chaired the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce. We will be greatly advantaged by having his wisdom and experience on Duke’s leadership team.
I have asked Phail to be responsible for leading Duke’s efforts to establish and implement a strategic plan for Duke’s relations with Durham and the region, to include:
* establishing an ongoing and substantive conversation between Duke University and the City of Durham, to accelerate economic renewal in areas close to our campus (Ninth Street, West Main Street, Brightleaf, downtown);
* establishing a higher level of mutual collaboration and cooperation between the Research Triangle Park and Duke administrators and faculty, particularly in the area of translational research;
* advancing efforts in sustainability as they relate to the Durham and regional communities, including important issues of infrastructure;
* further developing Duke’s relations with Durham Public Schools, and furthering productive relationships between faculty and staff at Duke and at North Carolina Central University and Durham Technical Community College;
* securing a greater level of permanent funding for the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership;
* working with our colleagues in the Duke University Health System to address health care issues in Durham;
* improving communications with our local workforce so that there is an increased sense of shared mission on the part of employees and the administration; and
* ensuring that Duke’s workforce education programs help meet the needs of our local employees and their families.
Senior Vice President for Public Affairs and Government Relations John Burness, who previously has had Durham relations as part of his responsibilities, will work closely with Phail as he transitions from Durham Tech to Duke over the coming months. John will continue to be responsible for our federal and state relations programs and will focus his energies on strengthening Duke’s communications programs to help ensure public appreciation of Duke’s excellence.
We plan to announce Allison’s retirement plans and Phail’s appointment tomorrow.
