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Coca-Cola Gift Honors Duke Trustee Emerita Susan King

Duke's Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy will receive $1 million from the Coca-Cola Foundation to fund the institute's Multimedia and Instructional Technology Center

 

DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke University's Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy will receive $1 million from the Coca-Cola Foundation to fund the Multimedia and Instructional Technology Center at the Sanford Institute's new building.

The gift honors former Duke trustee and Coca-Cola board member Susan Bennett King, who also serves on the Sanford Institute's board of visitors.

Douglas N. Daft, chairman and chief executive officer of the Coca-Cola Company, announced the gift March 18 at the Sanford Institute.

"Susan King has made enduring contributions to the study of leadership," Daft said. "Her experiences in business, public service and academia make her a valuable addition to our company and to the Duke community."

Duke President Nannerl O. Keohane said the gift is a fitting tribute to King.

"Susan Bennett King is an exemplary leader who has served as an outstanding mentor and role model to countless students and professionals," Keohane said. "This gift is a fitting recognition of those roles, as well as her extraordinary service to the Sanford Institute and to the university. We are grateful to the Coca-Cola Foundation for recognizing her service in such a meaningful way."

Design work is under way on the Sanford Institute's new building, to be located across the lawn from the existing facility, which was built in 1994. The new building will double the institute's usable square footage. In addition to the multimedia center, which will be named for King, the building will include classrooms, lecture halls and office space for faculty and staff in several of the institute's centers and programs.

The $1 million gift is part of the Campaign for Duke, the university's current fund-raising effort, which will conclude at the end of the year. Since it began in 1996, the effort has raised more than $2 billion for facilities, faculty support and financial aid for students, as well as other elements of Duke's strategic plan, which includes extending Duke's global reach and influence.

"The Susan Bennett King Multimedia and Instructional Technology Center will significantly enhance the capacity of both the Sanford Institute and Duke University to engage the world of public policy in innovative, interactive and technologically sophisticated ways, providing greater visibility and more extensive impact on leaders and policymakers both domestically and internationally," said Sanford Institute Director Bruce W. Jentleson.

Specific benefits of the center include:

-- Increased national and international media visibility. On-site broadcast facilities with access to Duke's satellite uplink will allow faculty experts to connect quickly with national and international news organizations.

-- Enhanced classroom instruction. New classroom technology will include videoconferencing and audioconferencing; specialized projection equipment; and teaching consoles housing a networking computer, VCR, DVD player, laptop interface, document imaging camera, wireless keyboard/mouse and wireless networking.

-- Videoconferencing and streaming video capabilities that can then be broadcast via the institute's Web site, allowing the institute to share knowledge and research with other faculty, students and policymakers around the world.

-- Two-way distance learning. Through videoconferencing, "virtual" guest lecturers can be brought to the institute from almost anywhere in the world, or connect with off-site institutions or groups for two-way, interactive learning.

"This is an incredible honor for me, but it is an even more important contribution that Coke has made to public policy and Duke University," King said.

King, who lives in Hillsborough, grew up in Atlanta and graduated from Duke with Phi Beta Kappa honors in 1962. Since then, King has "lived the life of a leader and reveled in serving as a role model for future leaders," said Mitch Hart, the philanthropic force behind the Sanford Institute's Hart Leadership Program.

Most of her first 20 years out of Duke were spent in the public and not-for-profit sectors, with positions including executive director of the Center for Public Financing of Elections and Washington director of the National Committee for an Effective Congress. She later became a commissioner, then chair of the Consumer Product Safety Commission during the Carter Administration. In 1982, she joined Corning Glass Works as vice president and director of corporate communications and consumer affairs. Her corporate career culminated in being named president of Steuben Glass in 1987, a position she held for five years.

King returned to Duke in 1994 as leader-in-residence for the Hart Leadership Program, which helps Duke undergraduates become active leaders and engaged citizens in a democratic society. She also served as president of the Leadership Initiative, designed to encourage and support universities interested in undergraduate leadership education.

King's work at Duke was recognized in October 2001 when she received the University Medal for Distinguished, Meritorious Service. She continues to be involved in many activities at Duke, and also in numerous corporate and philanthropic endeavors, including serving as a director for Guidant Corporation and as a trustee for the National Public Radio Foundation.