Founders Day Convocation 10/01/09 - Images by Michael Naclerio
By popular demand, here are the bulk of the photos from Founder’s Day. My apologies for the delay.
{ 0 comments }
From the category archives:
Alumni
David Rubenstein, Trinity ‘70 and member of the Board of Trustees since 2003, is spreading his wealth.
Rubenstein donated $10 million to the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, the New York Times reported Wednesday.
Rubenstein added to the center’s $1.2 billion redevelopment project, and the center will name its new visitors and ticket space on Broadway the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center, the Times reported. The site will offer discounted tickets and free shows, and it is scheduled to open Nov. 24.
The donation was sparked by Rubenstein’s 60th birthday last month, according to the article, which reports that Rubenstein made $2.7 billion as managing director of The Carlyle Group. Estimating that he could live to about 81 years old, Rubenstein has decided to give his money away to causes he supports before he dies.
“My view is, if you have money, you can spend it, you can save it, or you can give it away,” Rubenstein said to the Times. “I bought all the things I need to buy.”
Since Rubenstein co-founded The Carlyle Group in 1987, the company has expanded to house offices in 20 countries with more than 1,290 investors from 72 countries. The Carlyle Group manages about $86.1 billion in assets, according to its Web site.
Along with his commitment to the Duke Board of Trustees, Rubenstein also serves on the boards of 30 other institutions—which he also supports financially, the article states.
In addition to using his wealth to underwrite scholarships and fund arts centers, Rubenstein has purchased several historical documents which he has loaned to American museums, including copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Emancipation Proclamation, according to the article.
“Being happy in life is not easy,” Rubenstien said in the Times. “I would give up all the money I have if I could be 50. You can always make money.”
{ 0 comments }
China’s sovereign wealth fund, presided over by a Duke trustee, is set to make a large investment in another trustee’s Los Angeles-based investment firm.
Trustee Bruce Karsh’s Oaktree Capital Management will soon get $1 billion from Trustee Gao Xiqing’s China Investment Corp., the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.
In addition to being a trustee, Karsh, Trinity ‘77, is president of Oaktree and chairs the board of the Duke University Management Company, which manages Duke’s endowment. Karsh and his wife donated $20 million for undergraduate financial aid in 2008.
Gao, Law ‘86, has been a Board member since 2008 and is the general manager and chief investment officer of China Investment Corp.
The Journal reported that many hedge fund mangers have been traveling to Beijing to attempt to secure investments from China Investment Corp.
But Gao and Karsh may meet closer to the Gothic Wonderland this weekend, at the Board of Trustee’s October meeting. Both are members of the Board’s Business and Finance Committee.
{ 1 comment }
Blogger Kevin Davis had speculated earlier that Bill Gates and his wife Melinda French Gates, Trinity ‘86 and Fuqua ‘87, would be visiting the Durham Public Schools’ Performance Learning Center on West Club Boulevard today.
Turns out he was right.
The couple made a surprise visit to the Center this afternoon. The Gates Foundation also supports similar educational facilities across the country, according to NBC 17.
The appearance marks Trustee Emerita Melinda French Gates’ first public stop in Durham since the dedication of the French Family Science Center at Duke in 2007, but today’s visit is unrelated to this weekend’s Homecoming festivities.
“There won’t be any surprise presentation on the football field,” said Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations. “It’s up to them if they want to show up.”
{ 0 comments }
Sen. Ted Kaufman, Engineering ‘60 and a senior lecturing fellow in the School of Law, wrote a letter urging Security and Exchange Commission chairwoman Mary L. Schapiro to undertake an in-depth review of the mechanisms in place to oversee a wide range of issues under the agency’s jurisdiction, according to The New York Times DealBook blog.
“What I am doing right now is standing in the middle of the road waving a red lantern saying, ‘There’s a problem,’” Kaufman said in an interview with DealBook Monday. “Before we careen into another problem, we have to take a hard look at these things — and looking at them in piecemeal is not going to do it.”
The Delaware Democrat has been highly critical of the S.E.C. since taking his Senate seat in January, Replacing then-Sen. Joe Biden, who resigned his seat to become vice president of the United States. Many have blamed lax financial oversight by the S.E.C. as a principle cause of the financial collapse in September 2008.
Read Sen. Kaufman’s letter to S.E.C. Chairwoman Mary Schapiro here.
{ 1 comment }
A recent Duke grad’s attempt to sue the University over a failing grade failed to impress a Durham judge earlier this week, the News & Observer reported Friday.
Superior Court Judge J.B. Allen dismissed the case that Tiffany Lynette Locus, Trinity ‘07, filed last year against Charles Thompson, education and curriculum director for the Center for Documentary Studies Monday. The suit also named various other Duke administrators including President Richard Brodhead, Provost Peter Lange, Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta and Director of Judicial Affairs Stephen Bryan.
Locus alleged that she suffered emotional distress–in the form of severe depression and anxiety attacks–after Thompson accused of her cheating on her final paper and unfairly gave her an F in his “Who Cares and Why: Social Activism and Its Motivations” course. Locus contended that the discrepancies in that paper were due to false information she received from a woman she interviewed for the project.
The lawsuit requested punitive damages of more than $10,000 and for Locus’ grade in the class to be changed to passing.
Judge Allen, however, was not convinced by the arguments of James Locus, Tiffany’s father, that Duke violated a contractual agreement in assigning Locus the “F.”
Locus’s lawsuit is the second against the University to be dismissed this month. U.S. District Court Judge Wallace Dixon dismissed Andrew Giuliani’s lawsuit against Duke May 20 when he too alleged breach of contract after being released from the golf team.
Check back at dukechronicle.com for more updates.
{ 0 comments }
