October 4, 2003

The contributions by Duke University President Nannerl O. Keohane to the study of ethics are being honored by the A.J. Fletcher Foundation and its president, James F. Goodmon, with a $1.33 million donation to the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke .

The gift will be matched by an additional $670,000 from Duke’s Nicholas Faculty Leadership Initiative to establish a $2 million endowment that will fund the Nannerl O. Keohane Directorship of the Kenan Institute for Ethics.

In February, Keohane announced she would step down from the presidency in June 2004 to return to teaching and scholarship.

The announcement was made Saturday evening, Oct. 4, by Kenan Institute director Elizabeth Kiss at a reception during the university’s annual Founders’ Weekend. Several Founders’ Weekend events celebrated the 10th anniversary of Keohane’s inauguration as Duke president. On Thursday, Oct. 2, Keohane was surprised when Board of Trustees Chair Peter Nicholas announced that she was being awarded the University Medal, Duke’s highest honor.

"Nan has provided strong leadership and support in establishing the Kenan Institute for Ethics," Jim Goodmon said. "I know that the program is very important to her, and I want people 50 years from now to know about her efforts. The Fletcher Foundation is very proud of President Keohane and this grant."

Goodmon, whose family has been in the broadcasting business in North Carolina since 1937, is also president and CEO of Capitol Broadcasting Company in Raleigh. He was named to the North Carolina Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in April of this year; was awarded The Common Cause Plott Hound Courage Award in December 2000 and the North Carolina Award in November 2000, which is the highest honor the State of North Carolina can bestow; and was inducted into the Journalism Hall of Fame at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at UNC-Chapel Hill in April 1997. Capitol Broadcasting is the owner of the Durham Bulls, and Goodmon has been the guiding force behind the development of Durham’s American Tobacco campus, a $189 million project to revitalize Durham’s downtown community.

The A.J. Fletcher Foundation is named for Goodmon’s grandfather, Alfred Johnston Fletcher, who established it to support opera performance and education in North Carolina. The foundation’s interests have expanded to include human services, illiteracy, and the health and well being of children.

In 1995, Keohane was instrumental in establishing the Kenan Ethics Program at Duke, with funding provided through a five-year grant from the William R. Kenan, Jr. Fund for Ethics. The late Frank Hawkins Kenan, then a trustee of the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust, sought to establish a university-based ethics program that would support the study and teaching of ethics and would develop and disseminate models for how institutions and communities can nurture personal integrity, reflective and productive citizenship, courage and compassion. Leadership from Keohane and Thomas A. Langford, former Duke provost and Divinity School dean, and assistance from an interdisciplinary group of Duke faculty, helped the Kenan Ethics Program at Duke become a reality.

Two years later, Kiss, a Rhodes Scholar who received a doctorate in philosophy from Oxford University, came to Duke from Princeton University to become the institute’s first director. Under her leadership, the institute has provided guidance for the new honor code, known as the Community Standard, that was enacted this fall; added a service-learning initiative to several courses; brought the Center for Academic Integrity to Duke; provided grants, program activities and training; and partnered with the Duke Divinity School, the Duke Chapel and the religion department on initiatives exploring religion and ethics.

The institute also has worked to reach off-campus audiences by hosting national conferences for K-12 and university educators on moral education; promoted character education in public schools through the N.C. Character Educators of the Year awards program; co-produced a two-part public television series on moral leadership in public life; instituted the William C. Friday Award in Moral Leadership and hosted forums on emerging moral challenges.

The Kenan Ethics Program became the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University in July 1999, when the trust established a $10 million endowment.

"Jim Goodmon’s wonderful gift reflects his deep and energetic devotion to ethical behavior in personal, business and civic life," Kiss said. "Like Frank Kenan and the Kenan family, Jim Goodmon has urged the Kenan Institute to be bold, creative and practical in promoting individual and organizational ethics. This splendid gift will enable us to strengthen and expand our efforts.

"We are thrilled that it also honors President Keohane’s commitment to making ethics central to Duke's mission, from the curriculum to everyday campus life."

The Fletcher Foundation gift comes through the Campaign for Duke, the university’s $2 billion fund-raising effort that seeks to fund the university’s strategic plan, "Building on Excellence." One of the plan’s chief goals is to "build an excellent faculty in every school," based on "fostering excellence in teaching, research and service."

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