Steel, Seven Others Retiring from Duke Board

Trustee chair Robert Steel and seven other trustees ended their term of service Sunday with the close of the May Board of Trustees meeting.

Steel, Christine Durham, Cookie Anspach Kohn, James L. Vincent and Lewis T. (Rusty) Williams, have helped guide the university through strategic plans, academic expansion and recently, a tight fiscal climate.

"Duke owes much of its success to wise and steady leadership from its board of trustees," said President Richard H. Brodhead. "We have the good fortune to be able to draw on people of outstanding achievement and wide experience who are devoted to Duke and take the trustee's responsibilities seriously. The trustees who are stepping down have helped steer Duke through many challenges and opportunities. Duke is a better, stronger university for their efforts."

Robert Steel, former president and CEO of Wachovia Corporation and a current member of the board of directors of Wells Fargo & Co, was elected to the Duke Board of Trustees in 1996. He became board chair in 2005, when he became the first Durham native to chair the board. He has since served as chair of the Executive Committee, and a member of the Trusteeship Committee.

He has previously served on the Academic Affairs, Business and Finance and Audit Committees, and chaired the Presidential Search Committee that selected Richard H. Brodhead as president of Duke.

Steel earned a B.A. in history and political science from Duke in 1973.

Justice Christine Durham has been a member of the Utah Supreme Court since 1982 after serving as a trial judge for four years. She became Chief Justice in 2002.

Elected to the Duke University Board of Trustees in 1994, Justice Durham serves on the Executive Committee and chairs the Faculty, Graduate and Professional Schools Affairs and Honorary Degree Committees.

A 1971 graduate from Duke Law School, after graduating she became a research associate at Duke Law School and a legal consultant for the Duke University Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development. She also taught medical jurisprudence at the Duke Medical School before moving to Utah in 1973.

Carol (Cookie) Louise Anspach Kohn, co-director of Valerie Wilson Travel, Inc. -- Highland Park, a corporate travel consulting firm, was elected to the Duke University Board of Trustees in 1997. She currently serves on the Executive Committee, chairs the Human Resources Committee, and is vice chair of the Undergraduate Affairs Committee. She has previously served on the Building and Grounds Committee and the Student Affairs Committee. She has served on the Athletic Council since 2001.

Kohn earned a B.A. in history from Duke in 1960 and an M.Ed. from Northwestern University in 1982. She has served as chairman of the Duke Annual Fund's Executive Committee, and has been a member of the Chicago Regional Council for Duke, and the Alumni Admissions Advisory Committee. A past president and class agent for the Duke Class of 1960, she also has served two terms on the Trinity College Board of Visitors.

James L. Vincent is retired chairman and CEO of Biogen Inc., one of the leading biopharmaceutical companies in the world.

A member of the Duke University Board of Trustees since 1994, Mr. Vincent is a member of the Business and Finance Committee and the Medical Center Academic Affairs Committee. He has previously served on the Building and Grounds and Human Resources Committees.

He received his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Duke. Both of his children, Aimee T'91 and Christopher T'95, B'08, are graduates of Duke.

Dr. Lewis T. (Rusty) Williams is the founder and executive chairman of Five Prime Therapeutics, Inc., a biotech company that develops protein and antibody therapeutics. Serving his second term on the Duke University Board of Trustees, he is a member of the Medical Center Academic Affairs Committee and the Institutional Advancement Committee.

Throughout his career, Williams has been recognized for his numerous contributions both to science and industry. He is a recipient of the American Heart Association's Basic Research Prize. A member of the National Academy of Sciences, he also is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and other national professional organizations.

Williams earned a Ph.D. and an M.D. from Duke University in 1977 and 1978, respectively.

In addition, two young trustees, Benjamin Kennedy T'00, B'07, and Brandon Jonathan Goodwin T'06, also left the board. Young trustees serve single, two-year terms. Tom Clark T'69, a past president of the Duke Alumni Association, also rotates off after serving for two years as an observer and two years as a voting member.