A number of awards were presented to students, faculty and alumni during this year's Founders' Day Convocation at Page Auditorium.
This year's ceremony featured an address by David Ferriero, U.S. Archivist and former head of the University's library system, as well as the presentation of University Medals to former Duke track coach Al Buehler and Paula Burger, Trinity '67, former Dean of the Woman’s College at Duke and a former member of the Board of Trustees.
Several other faculty and student recognition awards were presented, including the Distinguished Alumni Award to Dr. Kimberly Blackwell, Trinity '89, professor of medicine, assistant professor of radiation oncology and director of the Breast Cancer Program at the Duke Cancer Institute. President Richard Brodhead presented the awards to the honorees after briefly recognizing undergraduate, graduate, faculty and staff awards.
"I’m so proud to build on the work of those who went before me, so on this Founders' Day, let me give thanks to all the staff, past and present,” Ferriero said in his address. “As a Duke staff member, I had enormous opportunities to grow and contribute, and I give thanks for that every day of my life, so thank you Duke.”
READ: Q&A: David Ferriero goes from university librarian to national archivist
Ferriero is currently serving as the country's 10th national archivist after overseeing the Duke library system as university librarian from 1996-2004. His current duties include preserving historical documents and government records. Before coming to Duke, Ferriero served as assistant director for public service at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Ferriero, 69, left the University to become Andrew W. Mellon director of the New York Public Libraries, then became national archivist in November 2009.
As part of his address, Ferriero, touched on different aspects of the University's history, which Brodhead said Saturday after the first Board of Trustees meeting of the year was not surprising because he is a "total librarian."
"I very much enjoyed his talk. I fancy myself someone who’s interested in the improbable history of Duke, but I learned things from him that I’d never heard before," Brodhead said. He’s a researcher. It was a research talk. That’s what made it perfect."
Ferriero's return during Homecoming Weekend is his first since the recently-renovated Rubenstein Library reopened and coincides with the library's dedication Saturday afternoon. The construction project was led by Ferriero's successor, Deborah Jakubs, to add more modern research and classroom space and make the library's special collections more easily accessible. The project was part of the Perkins Project, which was spearheaded by former Provost Peter Lange in 2000.
“The Perkins Library project was an enormous effort based on the belief that a great university needs a great library,” Ferriero said.
Like Ferriero, Buehler became well-known nationally after establishing a steady career at Duke in the 1970s and 1980s. He was inducted to the United States Track Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2003 and was presented a lifetime achievement award from USA Track and Field in 2012.
“At Duke we’ve always believed that athletics can be a form of education,” Brodhead said in his introduction of Buehler. “But it takes a great coach to uncover the highest potential of young people.”
The legendary track and field coach helped coach the U.S. Olympic Track and Field teams in 1972, 1984 and 1988 after taking over Duke's cross country program in 1955 and its track and field program in 1964. The popular Duke Forest Buehler Trail was named after Buehler in 2000. Buehler retired last April after 60 years as a Duke coach and professor—he taught a freshman seminar called "History and Issues of American Sport" from his office in Cameron Indoor Stadium while handling his coaching duties.
Buehler himself briefly addressed the audience while accepting his award, proclaiming, "What I would like to say as an old track coach: keep turning left and hurry back!”
Burger also received a University Medal Friday. She became dean of women at the Woman's College at Duke in 1970 before the men's and women's colleges came together in 1972. At that time, Burger transitioned to becoming assistant dean of the Trinity College of Arts and Sciences. She held multiple administrative positions at Duke and Johns Hopkins University before retiring as dean of undergraduate education at Johns Hopkins in 2010. She has also served on the board of directors of the Duke Alumni Association, the Women's Center and the executive committee of the Duke Annual Fund.
Brodhead said the awards are given to someone who has had “an unquestionable and long-lasting impact on the life of the institution,” explaining that Burger “would come to occupy every role possible at the university—student, alumna, faculty, trustee and honoree.”
Blackwell was named on TIME magazine's 2013 list of the 100 most influential people in the world and will receive the Distinguished Alumni Award. She developed a treatment that has been called a "smart bomb" for sparing healthy cells and developing chemotherapy to cancer cells. The treatment targets proteins found in tumors that make up approximately 25 percent of breast cancer cases and are highly resistant to treatment.
“Dr. Blackwell has put her life into academic medicine, improving the lives of women around the world,” Brodhead said.
Update: This story was updated Saturday afternoon to include Brodhead's quote about Ferriero.
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