Duke has received an $8.36 million gift to support the arts and graduate students at the Duke Global Health Institute from Karl von der Heyden, Trinity '62 and trustee emeritus, and his wife Mary Ellen, President Richard Brodhead announced Wednesday in a press release.
$7.36 million of the donation will be used for events, programs and educational opportunities at the new 71,000 square-foot arts center being built on the corner of Campus Drive and Anderson Street. The other $1 million will be used for graduate fellowships at DGHI, which has become one of the top global health programs in the world since launching in 2006 and involves more than 400 students.
"The von der Heyden name is already known to everyone at Duke because of the pavilion that is such a beloved gathering space in the library," Brodhead said in the release. "It's a privilege to express our gratitude once again to Karl and Mary Ellen for their extraordinary generosity in continuing to support Duke's highest priorities."
The most recent von der Heyden gift contributes to Duke Forward, the seven-year fundraising campaign that hopes to raise $3.25 billion by June 30, 2017. The University has already raised approximately $2.9 billion, wrote Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations, in an email.
Previous von der Heyden gifts include $4 million in 2000 to help expand Duke's libraries and $1 million in 1995 to create the von der Heyden Fellows Program Endowment Fund. The program brings prominent international leaders to campus, and has featured Belisario Betancur, former president of Colombia, and investigative reporter Bob Woodward.
Karl von der Heyden graduated from Duke in 1962 and was formerly the vice chairman of Pepsi Co, Inc. The Berlin, Germany, native also held several senior management positions and was previously the CEO of multiple other corporations. He served on Duke's Board of Trustees from 1995 until 2007.
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