Gift From Trustee Chair Supports Duke-Durham Neighborhood Programs

Robert King Steel, the first Durham native to chair the Duke University Board of Trustees, has given $500,000 to support programs in the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership, President Richard H. Brodhead announced Thursday.

Half of Steel's gift will initiate an endowment for the Neighborhood Partnership to ensure its lasting stability.

Begun in 1996, the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership connects the university with local organizations and residents in 12 neighborhoods close to Duke's campus to improve the quality of life and to boost student achievement in eight nearby public schools. Specifically, the Neighborhood Partnership concentrates its efforts and investment in four thematic areas: education enrichment and youth development; neighborhood stabilization; strengthening community organizations; and engaging Duke students and staff in community service.

"This generous gift from Bob Steel will help further our collaborations with Durham in revitalizing neighborhoods, enabling more low-income people to buy their first homes and providing after-school programs for young people in need," Brodhead said. "It is also an important gift because it will help start an endowment. The Neighborhood Partnership has been producing results for more than a decade. This gift will help mean it will be around for decades to come."

Steel, who was recently nominated by President Bush to serve as undersecretary of the treasury for domestic finance, said he has been impressed by the work already accomplished through the Neighborhood Partnership, which was started the year that Steel began serving on the Board of Trustees. Thanks to an affordable housing loan to Self-Help from Duke, for instance, more than 120 houses have been purchased for renovation and sale to low-income homeowners in Walltown and Southwest Central Durham. Duke's Division of Community and Family Medicine, in partnership with Lincoln Community Health Center, has opened health clinics in two Partnership neighborhoods. Quality after-school programs for low-income children are ongoing in four neighborhood centers. Also, Duke has provided neighborhood schools with curriculum support, tutors and improvements to their campuses.

"The growing cooperation between Duke and my hometown over the past 10 years has been remarkable, and I wanted to help ensure the prospect of even greater collaborations," Steel said. "As an alumnus of Duke and a native of Durham, I am particularly interested in the ways these communities, residents and students can work together for the benefit of all. I'm very proud to know that three out of every four Duke students volunteer in Durham. I'm also cognizant that by getting out and experiencing the city's rich cultural history and charms, they're learning as well as giving."

Steel is a former vice chairman of Goldman Sachs & Co. who teaches at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and serves with organizations that include the National Humanities Center, the After-School Corp. and the Aspen Institute.

Cora Cole-McFadden, Durham Mayor Pro Tem, expressed appreciation for Steel's donation and support of Durham. "It's really a testament to the great work the Neighborhood Partnership has been doing in the community," said McFadden, a Durham native herself. "The positive impact on our youth, the work at EK Powe Elementary and Carter Community School in Walltown and generally in the West End is admirable. I wish all communities could have partners like Duke."

Steel received his bachelor of arts degree from Duke in 1973, majoring in history and political science, and earned his master's in business administration from the University of Chicago in 1984.

Steel and his wife, Gillian, have three daughters and live in Greenwich, Conn. He grew up near Duke's East Campus and attended Durham public schools before enrolling at Duke. His mother, Durham resident Elizabeth Steel, and late father, Charles Steel III, also attended Duke.