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Exceptional
Volunteers
 harles
A. Dukes Awards for Outstanding Volunteer Service to Duke were presented
to thirteen leaders, selected for their work with advisory and executive
committees, clubs, reunions, and the travel program. The awards are
sponsored by the Duke Alumni Association. Named for the late Dukes
’29, director of Alumni Affairs from 1944 to 1963, the citations
honor alumni and friends of Duke who reflect his dedication to the
university.
Selected by the DAA’s Awards and Recognition Committee and the
Annual Fund’s executive committee, this year’s recipients
are:
James “Jake” F. Akers ’73, longtime
class agent and leader in each of his class reunions, including reunion
class chair for his twentieth. As a class volunteer, he is described
as “tireless (and relentless) on the phone asking his classmates
to give to the Annual Fund.” As a past chair of the Annual Fund’s
executive committee, he led the group through the decision-making
process of setting the $100-million goal for the Annual Fund in the
Campaign for Duke. He also helped the staff develop a new framework
for reunion giving. “By volunteering for Duke,” Akers says,
“we can help sustain the excellence and help ensure that future
generations will have the opportunity to experience a Duke education.”
Peter Burian, professor of classical studies and
comparative literature and Academic Council chair at Duke. Burian
has assisted the Alumni Lifelong Learning and Travel program since
1993, when he chaired the first faculty committee to help recruit
Duke faculty for the fledgling alumni continuing-education program.
He served on the DAA board of directors from 1995 to 2000, both as
a contributing committee member and faculty representative. In 1995,
he led Duke’s first alumni college abroad program, based in Italy.
The next year, he led its first family alumni college abroad; he has
led two subsequent family abroad programs and an alumni abroad program
each year since. He has also served as faculty speaker at many Alumni
Admissions Advisory Committee (AAAC) student “accept parties,”
and he has been a valuable resource in shaping alumni programs, including
faculty recruitment. Says Burian, “It has been a special pleasure
to work with active alumni, who are among the best informed and most
avid supporters.”
James A. Byerly ’74, president of the Duke
Club of Houston from 1989 to 2001. Over more than a decade, Byerly
has overseen outstanding club programming, has cultivated new volunteers,
and has encouraged broad participation through a variety of club events.
As a member of since 1986, he has interviewed prospective students
for the AAAC in his area. “Duke played an important role in my
life,” he says. “My volunteer activities are a way for me
to give back to the school that has given me so much.”
Melody Tope Hainline ’82, events coordinator
for the Duke Club of Greater Jacksonville, Florida. Described as “a
person of tireless energy and enthusiasm” who is “dedicated
to seeing that anything and everything that needs to be done for the
success of the organization is done,” Hainline has provided both
leadership and guidance for the Jacksonville club, taking responsibility
for organizing and arranging the details of most of its events. She
has declined every invitation to move up to president, preferring
her current role. She has served on the club’s board of directors
and interviewed for the AAAC. Says Hainline, “I have continued
to serve because of the caliber of people that I work with, both locally
and at Duke. It is truly a joy and a privilege to work with the Duke
club and to represent Duke University on a local level.”
Michael R. Hemmerich ’80, J.D. ’85, M.B.A.
’94, co-chair of the Fuqua School of Business’ Alumni Council
and alumni chair of its Annual Fund from 1998 to 2000. Hemmerich has
served two consecutive terms on the Alumni Council, 1995-2000. He
was alumni chair during a time when Fuqua had few Annual Fund volunteers.
He assisted its director by signing letters, making calls, and encouraging
classmates and other alumni to support the school. Besides planning
for his first five-year reunion at Fuqua, serving since 1995 on the
AAAC, and serving on the Duke Law School Future Forum since 1999,
he is a past president (1990-92) of the Duke Club of Northeast Ohio
and, currently, a visiting faculty member at the business school.
“Volunteering for Duke allows me to remain an active participant
in the vibrant Duke community and to do my small part in helping the
university achieve its ongoing mission of excellence and service,”
he says.
Page Ives Lemel B.S.E. ’84, president of the
Duke Club of Greater Jacksonville. Lemel began serving Duke immediately
when she was appointed Young Trustee for a three-year term. She joined
the engineering school’s Dean’s Council in 1985, where she
was a member until 1998. From 1987 to 1993, she was a member of the
DAA’s board of directors, where she chaired its Reunions Committee.
She was a member of the AAAC from 1992 to 1998. She has served on
the Jacksonville club’s board of directors since 1988 and as
club president since 1994. Innovative programming, such as the annual
dinner for both alumni and accepted students, exemplifies her creativity;
she was also the first to encourage her club to have a website. “I
volunteer,” she says, “as a means of demonstrating my appreciation
to Duke. My hope is that others will leave Duke with the same commitment
to stay involved.”
Ruth Ann Hall Sauter ’71, AAAC chair for Nassau
County, New York. Sauter has been involved with alumni admissions
interviewing since 1973. In 1978, she resurrected the AAAC in St.
Louis, which she headed until 1984, when she moved back to Long Island
and oversaw that AAAC. She assigns and coordinates nearly 300 interviews
per year, as well as recruiting new members, planning annual accepted-students
parties, and staffing college nights and fairs. She has been involved
with New York City’s regional Duke club and reunion committees
and co-chaired the Annual Fund’s Leadership Gift Committee in
1996 and this year. “I really enjoy meeting the students who
want to be a part of Duke,” she says. “My husband [Michael
A. Sauter ’71] and I are also proud to share Duke with both of
our children,” Duke senior Ryan Sauter and Sheryl Sauter ’97,
a 1997 recipient of a Charles A. Dukes Award.
John Tolsma ’95, a member of the Annual Fund’s
executive committee since 1993. Tolsma is described as the “king”
of the young alumni program. As a student, he helped develop the Building
Bridges program, which
served as the framework for communicating with and involving the most
recent graduates. He became an AAAC interviewer immediately upon graduation.
He worked for greater alumni participation by chairing the Graduate
School program for the Annual Fund in 1998-99 and served on the leadership
gifts committee for the Class of 1995’s fifth reunion. Says Tolsma,
“Volunteering for Duke yields immediate benefits. You can feel
the power of your time and service as the university rapidly advances.
Yet in that dynamism, Duke still provides the foundation for building
lasting relationships as we contribute.”
Joseph E. Walker ’51, M.D. ’60, class
agent for the medical school’s Class of 1960 and past president
of the Medical Alumni Association. Walker, a member of both the Davison
Club Development Committee and the Medical Alumni Council Development
Committee, also serves on the Medical Alumni Affairs Regional Planning
Committee in the Charlotte area. For his medical class reunion, he
spearheaded the fund-raising effort, raising a record amount for the
Davison Club and Medical Annual Fund by issuing a challenge matching
gift. Through his efforts, his class achieved a 60 percent participation
rate for gifts to Duke Medical Center and a 47 percent participation
rate for unrestricted gifts. He also recruited nine classmates as
new Davison Club members. “I can never repay Duke—no matter
how many years I contribute—for even part of what Duke has done
for me,” he says.
Harold G. Wallace B.D. ’71, chair of the Divinity
School’s board of visitors since 1998. Wallace, retired vice
chancellor for minority affairs and special assistant to the chancellor
of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has served on
the Divinity School’s capital campaign committee, building committee,
and seventy-fifth anniversary planning committee over the years. He
is particularly recognized for his efforts working with African-American
students through various programs. He was a member of the advisory
board of the Duke Institute for Care at the End of Life. “Since
no person is self-made, we must acknowledge those persons and institutions
that have helped us along the way in our careers,” he says. “My
efforts at Duke are my attempts to give back to an important institution
in my life. And I hope that I might make it possible for others to
benefit from a Duke education.”
Patricia Speight Wilson ’76 and William
T. Wilson III ’76, co-chairs of the Annual Fund Reunion Leadership
Committee. The Wilsons, who were both members of the Executive Leadership
Board for the Triad from 1993 to 1995, have a history of active volunteerism
for Duke. He was president of the Forsyth County Duke Club from 1989
to 1992 and chaired the Regional Campaign Committee for the Campaign
for Duke. She is a member of the Annual Fund’s executive committee;
both are members of the Carolinas Challenge Committee. “Our volunteer
efforts are one way we can express our gratitude to the institution
and to attempt to ensure that the lifelong impact of Duke on its current
and future students is as positive as it was for us,” says Wilson.
Russell S. “Rusty” Wright ’71, co-chair,
Attendance Networking Committee, for the Class of 1971’s thirtieth
reunion. Wright, who has been an involved volunteer in reunion planning
almost since his first, developed a plan that recruits fraternity
and sorority classmates to network within their groups for increased
reunion participation. Even ninety days before his reunion, he had
nineteen of the thirty-one Greek organizations connecting, and his
personal follow-up correspondence made an impact on attendance. Says
Wright, “Duke has opened many doors for me in life and I am happy
to give something back in these ways.” |
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