With the University set to officially launch a capital campaign, President Richard Brodhead will kick off his new five-year term by helping Duke garner funds.
Brodhead was reappointed in May after a review process that spanned several months. Although the Board of Trustees voted unanimously to reappoint the President, faculty members’ reactions were mixed during the review process, as revealed in interviews afterward. Although many praised Brodhead’s efforts in fundraising and expanding Duke’s global presence, some worried he lacked a strong leadership presence among students and faculty.
The Fundraiser
In terms of fundraising, though, there does not appear to be much doubt that Brodhead is well-suited for the task.
“[A common view was that] Brodhead is very good at these sorts of relationships, building these relationships,” said neurobiology professor Dona Chikaraishi, one of three faculty members on the review committee. “His demeanor is presidential in a sense, very diplomatic, so you can see that he would be good with people interested in supporting the University.”
Indeed, although Brodhead noted that much of what gets done at the University is due to collaborative efforts, he said his successful fundraising constitutes one of the proudest accomplishments of his tenure so far.
“I did make an issue of the fact that Duke has a very generous financial aid policy without having anything like the resources it needed to sustain that policy,” he said. “That was probably the first thing I felt was my personal contribution.”
Duke’s Financial Aid Initiative, which began in 2005 and ended in 2008, raised more than $308 million to support new scholarships and fund the University’s financial aid policy.
Behind the scenes
Some faculty members told The Chronicle Brodhead’s on-campus presence and engagement are lacking, noting that Provost Peter Lange appears responsible for many notable initiatives within the University. Chikaraishi noted that a similar sentiment came up during the review process.
“[One] thing brought up was that the people in the top administrative levels—Brodhead, Lange and [Executive Vice President Tallman] Trask—tend to speak with one voice and that’s why it’s hard to parse,” she said.
Chikaraishi, also associate dean for biomedical graduate education and leadership services, noted that this is “probably a good thing”—but said she understands that it might make it difficult to identify Brodhead’s personal accomplishments.
Brodhead said his job is collaborative in nature, especially given the proximity of his office to his colleagues’—the offices of Lange, Trask and Steve Nowicki, dean and vice provost for undergraduate education, are all housed in the Allen Building. This leads to constant and “organic” meetings with his colleagues on a daily basis, Brodhead said, noting the contrast between the set-up at Duke and at Yale University. Before coming to Duke in 2004, Brodhead served 11 years as dean of Yale College, where the offices of top administrators were housed in separate buildings.
He said his job requires him to be away from campus on a regular basis, as he meets with alumni and promotes Duke around the world. He serves as co-chair for the Commission on Humanities and Social Sciences, a national commission, and his fundraising ventures require frequent contact with alumni.
“I’m very glad there are people here who are directly in charge of everything,” he added. “There’s nothing that’s left unattended when the president leaves town.”
Owen Astrachan, professor of the practice of computer science, acknowledged that Brodhead acts behind-the scenes, but said he does not see this as a negative. Lange serves as the spokesperson to faculty members, Astrachan said, adding that his style is more assertive than the previous provost John Strohbehn.
Student connections
Paralleling some faculty’s concern that Brodhead’s voice is not heard strongly enough on campus is students’ sense of disconnect with the President. Chikaraishi said that the review committee discussed a Chronicle editorial written in February, which raised concerns that Brodhead does not engage with students as much as he should and noted that this sentiment was also picked up during the review process.
Former Duke Student Government president Pete Schork, Trinity ’12 said the structure of the administration is such that his interaction with the President was minimal as compared to other administrators.
“We worked more closely with [Vice President for Student Affairs Larry] Moneta and Dean Nowicki.”
Marcus Benning, president of the Black Student Alliance, said he was pleased with Brodhead’s response to BSA’s demands delivered to the Allen Building in January.
“He was very forthright and he was very candid with us about the University’s priorities as they relate to race,” Benning said.
Benning noted, though, that Brodhead’s involvement in issues of race on campus came a bit late.
“If I could do one thing, I would issue a challenge to President Brodhead to be more proactive in addressing issues before students have to respond to them,” Benning said. “I don’t personally believe it should take a full action student mobilization campaign to get the president’s attention on issues that affect the student population.”
Brodhead said that he particularly enjoys interacting with students, noting that he holds office hours every week or two and relishes the “daily interaction” with students, beyond just meetings with formal student groups.
“I like to go to things,” he added. “I like to go to plays, I like to go to sporting events, I like to go watch students do the things they care to do.”
A look at Brodhead’s connection with students is incomplete, however, without acknowledging the lacrosse scandal. During his first term, the President was widely criticized for admonishing the lacrosse team before a verdict was reached in the case. Although Brodhead issued a formal apology in 2007, the his handling of the situation—along with actions of fellow administrators—resulted in two ongoing lawsuits filed by members of the 2006 men’s lacrosse team against a variety of Duke administrators.
Global Initiatives
Astrachan, along with other faculty members, noted the rise of global initiatives during Brodhead’s tenure, particularly citing his efforts regarding knowledge in the service of society such as Duke Engage. Academic Council Chair Susan Lozier said she looks forward to continuing to work with Brodhead on programs involving global health, energy and the environment.
Randall Kramer, Duke Global Health Institute deputy director, praised Brodhead for the creation of the Institute.
“As a faculty member whose research has focused on environment and health issues in Asia and Africa, I commend his efforts to further globalize the university,” Kramer, also a professor of environmental economics and global health, wrote in an email June 22. “During his presidency, Duke’s international reputation has grown considerably.”
Even with these successes abroad, the University’s recent global undertakings have not run entirely smoothly in recent years. The opening of Duke Kunshan University, originally scheduled for this coming fall, has been delayed twice and is now projected for Fall 2013, pending approval from the Chinese Ministry of Education and completion of construction. And in May, the Fuqua School of Business indefinitely suspended a new degree program scheduled to launch this summer in Dubai. The exact origins of these delays are not clear.
Looking Forward
Many of the president’s priorities for his new term will directly influence students. In addition to the current capital campaign, Brodhead said focus will be on the renovations of “shared spaces”—Baldwin and Page Auditoriums and West Union—as well as developing the house model.
“It’s going to take a lot of collaborative effort to make it the source of community and home we want it to be,” he said.
Duke plans to expand into online education, including courses for credit and free courses available to the public, Brodhead said. Duke may collaborate with other universities to offer the classes online. Apart from courses simply offered online, Brodhead added that professors are continually incorporating online media into their classes, noting the uniqueness of the Link and the opportunities it provides for new forms of learning.
“[It’s a] continual modification as we realize the educational benefits of online education,” he said. “[This is] one of the great moments of educational experimentation…. We want to participate in the experiment.”
Brodhead also noted the delays associated with DKU, citing the “writhing slowness of Chinese bureaucratic processes” as an obstacle, but said in the upcoming year the University will move closer to starting its first programs in China.
Faced with a changing world of higher education, the President will have to “provide a direction and a nimbleness” in order to handle challenges associated with funding and international collaboration, said Paul Haagen, professor of law and senior associate dean for academic affairs. Brodhead will be responsible for articulating the “Duke brand” and maneuvering the changes in education.
“The general trajectory of this University is so strongly forward and upward,” Brodhead said. “That’s what attracted me here in first place. I feel that trajectory has continued, not entirely thanks to me. If you love Duke, you know that this place is on its way somewhere.”
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