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.

1 Early life and education
2 Career at Yale
3 Career at Duke
4 Notes

[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 experienced a difficult first day as university president. On 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, who had had no previous experience with a nationally-known, star university athletic team, helped avert a crisis by working to convince Krzyzewski to remain at Duke.

One month into Brodhead's 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]

Workers' 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.

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]

The Duke lacrosse scandal of 2006 has been an ongoing source of controversy. Three members of the nationally-ranked men's lacrosse team were accused of sexually assaulting an exotic dancer hired to perform at a team party off campus. Brodhead has been accused of being unsupportive of the team at the beginning by some who cite his cancellation of the 2006 season and the perceived forced resignation of the coach. Other observers believe that the Duke administration has been overly tolerant of athletes on a campus at which almost all of the men's and women's varsity teams are annually ranked among the best in the country. Yet others believe that Brodhead has acted appropriately by not rushing to judgment on the case, instead waiting for the upcoming trials and relying on the civil legal system. Brodhead has repeatedly stated that "our students must be presumed innocent until proven otherwise,"^[1] saying it as early as March 25, 2006.^[2] On December 20, 2006, Brodhead stated that "the DA's case will be on trial just as much as our students will be."^[1] After the district attorney, Mike Nifong, dropped the most serious rape charges against the players, Brodhead released a statement calling for Nifong to recuse himself and questioned his actions: "Given the certainty with which the district attorney made his many public statements regarding the rape allegation, his decision today to drop that charge must call into question the validity of the remaining charges. The district attorney should now put this case in the hands of an independent party who can restore confidence in the fairness of the process. Further, Mr. Nifong has an obligation to explain to all of us his conduct in this matter."^[3]