Duke Federal Relations: The Duke Digest

The Duke Digest - February 19, 2011

In Today's Issue:

Duke President to Co-Chair National Commission on the Humanities
Emory Professor Named New Arts and Sciences Dean at Duke
Obama Presents Duke Law Alum with Presidential Medal of Freedom
White House Consults Duke Prof. Horowitz's Egypt Expertise
Duke CMO Survey: Marketer Optimism Rises to Highest Level in Two Years
Duke Law Prof to Serve as Fellow at State Department
Duke Men's Basketball Team to Play in China, Dubai

PRESIDENT BRODHEAD TO CO-CHAIR NATIONAL COMMISSION ON THE HUMANITIES
Duke University President Richard H. Brodhead will co-chair the newly established Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences, Leslie Berlowitz, president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, announced Thursday.

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences formed the national commission in response to a bipartisan request from United States Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee) and Mark Warner (D-Virginia) and Representatives Tom Petri (R-Wisconsin) and David Price (D-North Carolina).

Congress asked the Academy to respond to the following charge:
What are the top ten actions that Congress, state governments, universities, foundations, educators, individual benefactors, and others should take now to maintain national excellence in humanities and social scientific scholarship and education, and to achieve long-term national goals for our intellectual and economic well-being; for a stronger, more vibrant civil society; and for the success of cultural diplomacy in the 21st century?

The commission's members range from musician Emmylou Harris, actor John Lithgow and filmmaker George Lucas to former Supreme Court Justice David Souter, scholars, corporate leaders, policymakers and the current presidents of Harvard, Stanford and other universities. Brodhead will co-chair the commission with John W. Rowe, chairman and chief executive officer of Exelon Corporation.

EMORY PROFESSOR NAMED NEW ARTS AND SCIENCES DEAN AT DUKE
Laurie L. Patton, the Charles Howard Candler Professor of Religions at Emory University and director of Emory's Center for Faculty Development and Excellence, will become the next dean of the faculty of Arts and Sciences at Duke University beginning in July, Duke President Richard H. Brodhead and Provost Peter Lange announced Wednesday.

Patton will oversee the university's core academic units, which offers courses and degrees across the arts, humanities, social sciences and natural sciences. She was recommended by a search committee of Duke faculty members, academic leaders and students who cited her collaborative leadership style, skills as a consensus builder and compelling vision of how universities can work in partnership with the broader public.

Read More:
Laurie Patton to Become Arts and Sciences Dean (DukeNews)

OBAMA PRESENTS DUKE LAW ALUM WITH PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM
On Tuesday, NRDC Founder John Adams (L '62) traveled to the White House to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States. This tribute is a fitting recognition for all that John has done to make America’s air cleaner, our water safer, and our wild places better protected for generations to come.

Read More:
Obama Presents NRDC Founder John Adams with the Presidential Medal of Freedom (nrdc.org)

WHITE HOUSE CONSULTS DUKE PROF. HOROWITZ'S EGYPT EXPERTISE
Prof. Donald Horowitz, author of a forthcoming book on the making of Indonesia’s constitutional democracy, was one of the experts contacted by administration officials trying to track Egypt's changing government.

Read More:
Professor Donald L. Horowitz - bio/expertise (law.duke.edu)
Obama Administration Studies Recent Revolutions for Lessons Applicable in Egypt (Washington Post)

DUKE CMO SURVEY: MARKETER OPTIMISM RISES TO HIGHEST LEVEL IN TWO YEARS
Top marketing executives at U.S. firms are more optimistic about the U.S. economy and their own companies, with company performance indicators such as revenue, profits and new jobs climbing across the board.

These encouraging results come from the CMO Survey, a nationwide poll of chief marketing officers (CMOs) conducted twice annually by Duke University's Fuqua School of Business and the American Marketing Association since 2008. The most recent CMO Survey queried 3,778 top marketing executives at Fortune 100, Forbes Top 200 and CMO Club companies from Jan. 11-28.

Read More:
CMO Survey: Marketer Optimism Rises to Highest Level in Two Years (DukeNews)

DUKE LAW PROF TO SERVE AS FELLOW AT STATE DEPARTMENT
Laurence R. Helfer, the Harry R. Chadwick, Sr. Professor of Law, will serve as the inaugural Jacob L. Martin Fellow at the U.S. Department of State on Feb. 22, 2011. A scholar of international law whose expertise includes international human rights, Helfer will brief attorneys in the office of the Legal Adviser on international lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights and lay the groundwork for an ongoing relationship.

Read More:
Helfer to Serve as Martin Fellow at State Department (law.duke.edu)

DUKE MEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM TO PLAY IN CHINA, DUBAI
The Duke University Men's Basketball team will circle the globe in August 2011, with games scheduled in China and Dubai, Vice President and Director of Athletics Kevin White announced Friday.

Read More:
Duke Men's Basketball Team to Play in China, Dubai (DukeNews)