The Duke Global Health Institute unveiled 14 of the 20 members that will comprise its new Board of Advisors, Dec. 8. More members will be announced in the coming months.
The Board—mandated by the institute’s executive committee in 2007—advises Dr. Michael Merson, director of the DGHI.
“It was clear to us that in order to realize our boldest ambitions as an Institute, we would need to assemble a group of influential leaders to carry our message forward,” Merson wrote in an e-mail.
The members will shape future priorities and elevate the status of the institute within the global health community, said Geelea Seaford, assistant director of communications at the DGHI.
President Richard Brodhead appointed the 14 members with Merson’s recommendation. They were selected from a pool of alumni, friends of the University, global health experts and business and philanthropic leaders. Merson will select the Chair and Vice Chair and serve as an ex officio member.
“The Board members of this caliber will be invaluable advisors on matters of strategic planning, priority setting and fundraising,” Merson said. He added that having a board of advisors validates the progress the institute has made in education, research and service.
Members will be able to serve multiple three-year terms at the discretion of the President and Director and attain emeritus status at the end of their service to the Board.
Thomas Gorrie, chair of Duke University Health System’s Board of Directors and a member of the Board of Trustees, said he was honored to be selected.
“Those are pretty impressive people on the Board,” Gorrie said, adding that he admired members’ diversity. “It is what Duke does best—to bring all things together.”
Christine McKenna. Trinity ‘08, is another new board member. She earned a Global Health Certificate while at Duke and is now a senior associate at Global Health Strategies, a consulting firm.
“I am very excited. It’s a great honor,” she said. “I will be able to provide a different perspective on education, since I’ve been through the program. Engaging our generation is really important.”
Seaford said by bringing in alumni like McKenna, the institute is “engaging Duke.”
The Board will meet for the first time in April 2010.
The board members are as follows:
Thomas Gorrie (Chair): T.M. Gorrie & Associates; Chair, DUHS Board of Directors; Member, Duke Board of Trustees
Leslie Bains: Managing Director, Citi Private Bank
Chris Elias: President and CEO, PATH
Paul Farmer T’82: Co0founder, Partners In Health; Member, Duke Board of Trustees
William Frist: US Senator; Distinguished Professor of Business and Medicine, Vanderbilt University
Pape Gaye: President and CEO, IntraHealth International
Helene Gayle: President and CEO, CARE USA
Elaine Leavenworth T’80: Vice President of Government Affairs, Abbott Laboratories
Jack Leslie: Chairman, Weber Shandwick
Christine McKenna T’08: Senior Associate, Global Health Strategies
Laura Ellen Muglia T’76: Postulant for the Diaconate, The Episcopal Church; Co-trustee, The Laura Ellen and Robert Muglia Family Foundation
Peter Piot: Director, Institute for Global Health at Imperial College London
Alan Schwartz T’72: Executive Chairman, Guggenheim Partners; Member, Duke Board of Trustees
Robert Steel T’73: Former President and CEO, Wachovia Corporation; former Chairman and Trustee Emeritus, Duke Board of Trustees
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