Allen Building Spaces Dedicated to Honor Janet Hill & Hill Family

President Vincent Price presents the trustee resolution to Tamia Hill, Calvin Hill and Grant Hill during the Friday ceremony.
President Vincent Price presents the trustee resolution to Tamia Hill, Calvin Hill and Grant Hill during the Friday ceremony.

During a dedication ceremony Friday, members of the Duke University Board of Trustees and senior leaders gathered in the boardroom in the Allen Building to honor the late trustee emerita Janet Hill, a University Medal winner, who died in 2022, and her family, including husband Calvin and son, Duke alumnus and current trustee Grant Hill, and Grant’s wife Tamia.  

The boardroom was recently renovated and named The Janet Hill Executive Boardroom, along with the adjoining office area on the second floor, which was dedicated as The Hill Family Presidential Suite. The renovations were made possible by a gift from Grant and Tamia Hill.

During Janet Hill’s 15 years on the Board of Trustees, she served on nearly every committee. She was chair of the Committee on Honorary Degrees for five years, part of the presidential search committee that led to the selection of Vincent Price as Duke’s 10th president, and a member of the board’s strategic task forces on The Future of Central Campus and Duke’s Centennial Celebration.

The family connection to Duke started when men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski recruited Grant to Duke in 1990. Janet, an officer with Hill Family Advisors in Fairfax, Va, and Calvin chaired the Duke Parents Committee when Grant was an undergraduate, for which they received the Charles A. Dukes Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service in 1994.

“Janet touched so many people in the Duke community through her mentorship, guidance and her steadfast support for them as people – not just for the institution but the people of this institution,” Price said during the ceremony.

Grant Hill shares memories of his mother during the dedication ceremony.
Grant Hill shares memories of his mother during the dedication ceremony.
The portrait of Janet Hill painted by Mario Moore, which now hangs at the entrance to the boardroom.
The portrait of Janet Hill painted by Mario Moore, which now hangs at the entrance to the boardroom.

In remarks at the ceremony, Grant Hill, who was elected to the Board of Trustees in 2021 after his mother retired from the board, said he was conscious of following his mother’s legacy of “service, generosity and spirit.”

“When I got the call from President Price inviting me to join the board, I was overwhelmed and excited. But I told him, ‘I may be the son of Janet Hill, but I’m not Janet Hill. There’s only one of her.’ She absolutely loved this school and loved serving on the board, and I think that speaks a lot about what Duke is.”

Janet Hill’s portrait, painted by artist Mario Moore, hangs at the entrance of the boardroom.