What to Do with $100 Million?

In terms of solving the world's problems, $100 million isn't all that much. But Duke's deans of the sacred and secular worlds agree -- its power can be leveraged as seed money.

"A hundred million dollars can disappear very quickly," Divinity School Dean Greg Jones told the audience in December during a Deans' Dialogue conversation. "But it can do an extraordinary amount to build capacity that gets multiplied several times over."

Duke Chapel Dean Sam Wells began the conversation series in 2006, inviting deans of various Duke divisions for one-on-one discussions, asking, "Is it possible to do any good?"

In the 2007-08 series, Wells is asking, "What would you do with $100 million?"

"Duke Chapel has a unique role in encouraging discussion about matters of common concern and in enabling dialogue to occur around the deeper issues that shape our character, lives and world," Wells said.

The discussions, which are free and open to the public, resume Feb. 19 with Nicholas School Dean William L. Chameides. Past conversations with Wells have included Duke's Fuqua School of Business Dean Blair Sheppard; Kristina Johnson, former dean of Duke's Pratt School of Engineering; and Sandy Williams, former dean of Duke's School of Medicine.

"Deans are top scholars, but they can also take an idea and pragmatically put it into action," said Gaston Warner, Duke Chapel's director of university and community relations.

For instance, Sheppard, dean of the business school, said $100 million alone will not eradicate a major problem. In his conversation in October, he said the sum "can be enough to start helping people build their own capacity for solving their problems." Sheppard said that approach oriented him toward teaching.

"I realized I could educate 450 MBAs to go out and solve lots of problems," Sheppard noted.

In his conversation in December, Jones, the divinity school dean, said the school prepares leaders of the church.

He referred to the saying: "give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime."

"We are in the business of teaching people to fish," Jones said. "With $100 million, I'd change the nature of the fishing industry. I'd develop the capacity of organizations, especially religious ones, to develop leadership in service to God."

The dialogues draw students, faculty, staff and community members. Judith Hays, associate professor in Duke's School of Nursing, said the conversations spark provocative discussion at home.

"The talks do spill over into our lives," she said, "if we give ourselves time to consider what our own values are and how we are putting them into play."