DURHAM, NC - Dan Vermeer, former director of the Sustainability Value Chain initiative at The Coca-Cola Co., has been named executive director of the Corporate Sustainability Initiative (CSI) at Duke University.

CSI is an interdisciplinary program designed to examine corporate environmental practices from the perspectives of both business strategy and public policy. The program pools the academic resources and research expertise of Duke's Fuqua School of Business, Nicholas School of the Environment and Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions.

Vermeer succeeds Michael Lenox, associate professor of management at the Nicholas School, who served as CSI's acting faculty director since the program started last year.

At Coca-Cola, Vermeer directed companywide efforts to integrate sustainability into Coca-Cola's core business practices. He founded and led Coca-Cola's Community Water Partnerships program, resulting in 125 public-private water sustainability projects in 50 countries.

Vermeer received a bachelor's degree in psychology from Hope College, a master's degree in cultural anthropology from the University of Virginia, and his Ph.D. in learning sciences from Northwestern University.