Honoring Volunteers

Alumni and friends of the university are recognized annually with Charles A. Dukes Awards for outstanding volunteer service to Duke. The awards, sponsored by the Duke Alumni Association, are named for the late Dukes '29, director of Alumni Affairs from 1944 to 1963. The citations honor individuals who reflect his dedication to the university. Award winners are selected by the DAA board of directors and the executive committee of the Annual Fund.

Recipients for 2003-04 are Michael J. Bingle, Kate Bostock, Frank B. Burney, Susan L. Callahan, James G. Dalton, Lee E. Faber, Anne DeVoe Lawler, Dan Levitan, Bob and Ariane Matshcullat, Richard S. Miller, Peter M. Nicholas Jr., Robert R. Penn, Simon B. Rich Jr., Matthew D. Sample, E. Colby Walton, and Sarah Towe Wood.

Bingle B.S.E. '94, of Riverside, Connecticut, was class gift co-chair for his tenth reunion, which, through his efforts, achieved a new tenth-reunion gift record of $575,675--105 percent of its goal. A founding member of the Young Alumni Council of New York, he has been a host of parties for the classes of 1989 through 1994 to promote the Annual Fund.

Bostock '94, M.B.A. '02, of New York, was class gift co-chair with Bingle for her class' tenth reunion. They were co-hosts of a party for their classmates in New York that eventually garnered 100-percent participation in the reunion gift from those attending. She has served on the Annual Fund's executive committee for the past five years and co-chaired the gift committee for her fifth reunion in 1999.

Burney '76, of San Antonio, has been president of the Duke Club of San Antonio for the past three years. A member of the Alumni Admissions Advisory Committee (AAAC) since 1983, he helped launch the first joint Duke clubs and AAAC send-off program last year by personally serving as host of an event to honor the incoming Class of 2007. And he has been the host of parties for local and visiting alumni and fans celebrating the women's and men's basketball teams at the Final Four in San Antonio.

Callahan '86, of New York, president of the Duke University Metropolitan Alumni Association (DUMAA) since 1997, oversees the second-largest but certainly most active alumni club, with nearly seventy-five social, cultural, and community-service events a year. She is a former AAAC chair and has been an Annual Fund volunteer and member of the New York Women's Forum.

Dalton '44, of Atlanta, was co-chair of the reunion gift committee for his sixtieth reunion, which raised $763,325--102 percent of its goal. He has been a member of the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center's board of overseers since 1993. In 2003, the Duke Alumni Association honored him with its Distinguished Alumni Award.

Faber '64, of Toledo, Ohio, served as class president from 1999 to 2004 and headed the attendance committee for his class' fortieth reunion. He is a past member of the AAAC and the planning committee for his thirty-fifth reunion. He is a member of Duke's Heritage Society and the Cornerstone Society for his continuous support of the university.

Lawler '75, of Bainbridge Island, Washington, has been a member of the Seattle AAAC since 1984 and its chair since 1993. She works with a committee of fifty-eight members to coordinate interviews with some 140 prospective students every year.

Levitan '79, of Seattle, was co-chair of the planning committee for his twenty-fifth-reunion, which saw record attendance. He was also responsible for fund-raising efforts toward the class' record-breaking gift of nearly $2.5 million--136 percent of its goal. He is a member of Trinity College's board of visitors and serves on the support corporation for the Center for Jewish Life at Duke.

The Matshcullats, of Greenwich, Connecticut, are the parents of Clare Matschullat '04. They have served as national chairs of the Parents' Committee--200 strong--for the past two years. In fiscal year 2002-03, the parents' program broke the pledge record, raising $3.2 million from non-alumni parents. Last year, the Matshcullats gave a welcome party at their home for parents. They have also worked at Parents' Weekend and planning retreats.

Miller '68, of West Windsor, New Jersey, has been a member of the AAAC since 1987 and chair of the Princeton/Trenton group since 2001. Working with twenty-four volunteers, he assigns more than seventy-five interviews a year and also represents Duke at college fairs. He served on the Annual Fund's leadership committee for his thirty-fifth reunion.

Nicholas '92, M.B.A. '98, of Boston, has been a member of the Fuqua School of Business' board of visitors since 2003 and has served on both his undergraduate and graduate-school reunion gift committees. For his tenth reunion in 2002, he was responsible for identifying prospects and soliciting classmates, setting a tenth-reunion record. He is a lifetime member of the Duke Alumni Association.

Penn '74, of Dallas, co-chaired with his wife, Katherine Baker Penn '74, their thirtieth reunion gift committee. His personal approach in contacting classmates resulted in a class gift that broke the thirtieth-reunion record, nearly $2.1 million--155 percent of its goal. He is a past member of the AAAC, the Talent Identification Program's advisory board, Trinity College's board of visitors, and the Duke Alumni Association's board of directors.

Rich '67, of Durham, chaired the board of visitors for the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences in 2003-04. He initiated, planned, and conducted a course, "Energy and the Environment," and secured prominent leaders in their fields to speak to the class. After organizing and partially funding a field trip for twenty students to sites in Texas and Louisiana, he also arranged a social gathering at the Texas home of a fellow board member so that the students and faculty members on the trip could meet local Nicholas alumni and energy-industry leaders. Last year, he was instrumental in funding and in identifying expert speakers for a Nicholas School Leadership Forum, "Creating a Sustainable Energy Future."

Sample '96, of Highwood, Illinois, was president of the Duke Club of Chicago for the past five years. Under his leadership, the club made a commitment to "adopt" the Horace Greeley School, a local grammar school, to provide mentors and tutoring through club volunteers. He is a former member of the AAAC and a lifetime member of the Duke Alumni Association.

Walton '94, of Dallas, chaired the Duke Club of North Texas for the past five years. He recruited members for an active board and executed a wide range of club programming that included community-service projects with volunteers from local organizations and from the alumni clubs of other colleges and universities. He is a former member of the AAAC.

Wood '42, of Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, has been a member of the AAAC organization since its start and chair of her local committee for the past eighteen years. She brings a legacy to her commitment to the university. "Since 1909, sixteen members of our family have gone to Trinity, now Duke," she says. She has spent more than three decades "connecting young people, their accomplishments, and their dreams with the opportunities Duke offers."