2013 Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award Recipients Recognized

Geoffrey Mock has quietly organized his colleagues at Duke to serve more than 7,000 meals in five years to the homeless at Urban Ministries of Durham.

Kathleen Perry has made room in her academic schedule to mentor at-risk youth and assist low-income and uninsured patients through programs such as Reality Ministries and the Samaritan Health Clinic.

For these and other acts of service for community members in Durham, Mock and Perry are the recipients of the 2013 Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award. The award is sponsored by the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Foundation to perpetuate the characteristics of integrity and service exemplified by Sullivan, a New York lawyer and philanthropist who died in 1887. Duke bestows the award each year on one student and one staff member.

Mock, editor of the News section of Duke Today, received the award at a reception with colleagues in the Allen Building on Friday.

"The award's criteria read like a description of Geoffrey, who is unfailingly selfless, generous, spiritual and a model of character and integrity," said David Jarmul, associate vice president of news and communications, who nominated Mock.

Mock, who has worked at Duke 27 years, was honored for his spirit of service at Urban Ministries of Durham and elsewhere. His other activities include mentoring North Carolina Central University student interns at Duke and selling concessions at Durham Bulls games to raise money for the local public schools his sons attend. He recently served as chair of the Middle East volunteer country specialists for Amnesty International.

Mock said a reason he has stayed at Duke is the value Duke places on community service for faculty, staff and students. "Service is best done not as something that is partitioned off during a few spare hours but as an integral part of your life, even at work, and Duke allows for that," Mock said.

Perry, a senior graduating with a degree in religion and a certificate in global health, received her award at the Student Leadership and Service Awards program on April 17.

Perry came to Duke in 2009 and quickly found herself drawn to community programs that served the poor, dying, homeless and others on the margins of society. She has tutored middle-school girls in an afterschool program at Reality Ministries, journeyed with the dying at Duke Hospice and helped complete paperwork for low-income and uninsured patients at the Samaritan Health Center.

"It was important for me to get involved in a social justice opportunity with people who call Durham their home," she said. "It is a humbling experience to accompany these people and include them in my life, rather than just seeing problems that need to be fixed."

Duke University Provost Peter Lange, who honored both Mock and Perry at the reception, said the Sullivan award is an important opportunity to publicly recognize people in the Duke community whose service is often unnoticed by their peers.

"This award speaks to the sense of community and service that is part of what makes Duke an attractive place to work and study," Lange said.