Richard H. Brodhead
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Richard Halleck Brodhead (b. 1947), currently ninth president of Duke University, is a scholar of 19th-century American literature and an educator.
[edit] Early life and education
Brodhead was born in 1947 in Dayton, Ohio. His family moved to Fairfield, Connecticut when he was six years old, where he attended public schools. He went on to attend Phillips Academy, where his high school classmates included Dick Wolf and George W. Bush. Brodhead graduated from Yale College in 1968 (summa cum laude with Highest Distinction in the English major). During his senior year at Yale was tapped for membership in the secret society Manuscript and was granted a Ph.D. in English from Yale Graduate School in 1972. He met his wife, Cynthia Degnan, while both were graduate students at Yale.
[edit] Career at Yale
After receiving his Ph.D. in 1972, Brodhead was appointed an assistant professor of English at Yale. In 1980, he received tenure and was named Director of Undergraduate Studies in English. By 1985, he had been made a full professor was named Chairman of the English department. A very popular professor, his classes on 19th-century American literature were often delivered to overflowing lecture halls.[citation needed] He was appointed Dean of Yale College in 1993 and served until 2004.
During his deanship at Yale, Brodhead was widely popular with both faculty and students and was known a brilliant speaker and an involved and dedicated dean. Together with current Yale President Richard C. Levin, Brodhead oversaw a major curricular review at Yale.
In this role, Brodhead was also involved in the controversy surrounding efforts by graduate student-employees (GESO) to unionize. In December 1995, GESO began a grade-strike, which ultimately failed when the Yale administration refused to concede to their demands.[1] Members of the Yale administration--including Brodhead--were accused of blacklisting involved students, but those allegations were never proven in court.[2]
[edit] Career at Duke
He left New Haven in 2004 to become President of Duke University, succeeding Nan Keohane.
Brodhead suffered difficult first day as university president. That day, Duke's star basketball coach, Mike Krzyzewski announced that the Los Angeles Lakers had offered him $40 million to become their new coach. Brodhead averted crisis when Krzyzewski decided to stay at Duke.
One month into his tenure as president, the campus was scheduled for a conference by the Palestine Solidarity Movement (PSM). While this led to vociferous opposition, Brodhead approved the conference, citing free speech and the desire for improved dialogue regarding this contentious issue.[3]
Worker's rights became an issue when Duke began to outsource hospital laundry services to Angelica Corporation. This led to complaints that the university was avoiding the responsibility of providing a living wage for people who do work for the university. Despite demands by student activists organized in the Duke chapter of United Students Against Sweatshops, Duke refused to enter the dispute; Angelica later settled with the UNITE HERE, the union representing the workers, with no input from the university. Angelica has continued its work with Duke.
The Duke lacrosse scandal has been an ongoing source of controversy. In it, three members of the nationally-ranked lacrosse team were accused of sexual assault. Brodhead has been accused of being unsupportive of the team by some observers; they cite his cancellation of the 2006 season, his forcing the resignation of the coach, and his criticism of the "lacrosse culture" on campus. Other observers believe that he and the Duke administration have been overly tolerant of athletes on a campus in which almost all of the men's and women's varsity teams are annually ranked among the best in the country. Brodhead has spoken relatively little about the controversy--which remains an open felony investigation with three current indictments--preferring to have committee heads outline their perspectives on the situation.
Brodhead announced a $300 million financial aid campaign in late 2005. Its goals are to ensure continued need-blind admissions and meeting 100% of students' demonstrated need.[4]
| Preceded by: Nannerl O. Keohane | President of Duke University 2004– | Succeeded by: In office |
