Administrator fashion--the ultimate oxymoron? Not at Duke. Hoping to persuade donors to contribute to The Campaign for Duke and faculty to trade Cambridge for Durham, Duke administrators have gone back to school to get their doctorates in fashion.
President Nan Keohane finally places Duke ahead of the Duke of the North: Surely, she dresses better than Lawrence Summers, president of Harvard. Keohane sets the bar high for the rest of the administration with her perfectly pieced together business casual. Blazers paired with smart button-down dresses or authoritarian pants make her a role model to college co-eds-and not only for being a successful female, but also a successfully dressed female.
Rumors are swelling that Keohane plans to create a Dressing for Success Initiative, a sub-task force of Duke Inquiries on Gender. And perhaps when she steps down in two years, she will take the much-discussed leadership role at the prestigious northern organization vying for her-Vogue.
The first vice president for student affairs on Keohane's senior administrators council, Larry Moneta prefers to buck the suit-and-tie trend. A fan of sweaters, polos, bold colors and open shirts with chest hair, Moneta describes his style as modern-the "student-friendly" senior administrator dresses more like his constituents (albeit the well-dressed ones) than his bosses.
Faced with the looming gloomy cloud called the Arts and Sciences budget, Dean of the Faculty of A&S William Chafe likes to pretend he's in a happier, more tropical place. Seen sporting Hawaiian shirts, Chafe, in his white beard looks like Santa taking July vacation on the beach.
But when the occasion demands it, the former flower child believably pulls off well-tailored suits-smartly sticking to the blues, reds and blacks that match his complexion. He perfects the presidential look when necessary. ("Read my lips, no fewer faculty.")
Provost Peter Lange approaches dressing with a cross-disciplinary approach, using his international perspective not only in the boardroom, but also in the wardrobe. With his olive complexion, Lange favors greens, but the big debate in the morning is not color choice; it's the tie. Preferring a more casual, comfortable style to the more stuffy multi-piece suit, Lange makes a policy of coordinating his wardrobe with his schedule. A Chronicle interview, for example, does not require a tie; a Board of Trustees meeting does. Go figure.
Keeping the love-and money-in the family, Executive Vice President Tallman Trask has one fashion maxim: H. S. Trask shoes. The question for Trask is not about the tie-it's about the socks. The shoes are surprisingly casual for the cheerful stripe and pattern combinations of his Brooks Brothers dress shirts and ties.
On the other end of the quantum spectrum is the self-described retro Pratt School of Engineering Dean Kristina Johnson. She subscribes to the "Johnny Cash maxim of dress," preferring black and even donning the occasional tie-dye shirt. Those crazy engineers!
But by far the best-dressed administrator in the Gothic Wonderland-which is so preppy a J. Crew catalogue was shot here-is the pristinely dressed Fuqua School of Business Dean Douglas Breeden. He clearly brings a style alien to Duke, suspiciously reminiscent of his alma mater Stanford. With five-piece suits and regal black hair, Breeden could model for Business School GQs.
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