University-Wide Initiatives
Additional Opportunities to Further Duke's Excellence
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Morris Williams at the Divinity School, one of his
family’s many Duke interests.
University-wide Initiatives
Campaign Total: $425,937,559
The campaign addressed needs throughout Duke: The University
Scholars program was endowed, as were 10 University Professorships.
The Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy and the Kenan
Institute for Ethics flourished, as did the Neighborhood Partnership.
New campus facilities include the Brodie and Wilson recreation
centers, the Doris Duke Center at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens,
the Nasher Museum of Art, the John Hope Franklin Center, and
many others.
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IMorris Williams T’62, G’63 and Ruth Williams W’63
initially focused their philanthropy on the Divinity School, where
Morris’s father, a Methodist minister, had graduated. Ruth
and Morris felt that the school “needed outside support because
of the positive contributions made by its graduates and the fact
that [they] do not make high salaries.” Over time, their two
daughters attended Duke, and Morris began taking on various volunteer
roles, including service on the Board of Trustees. As he and Ruth
“gained a greater appreciation of various areas Duke is pursuing,”
they expanded their support to include scholarships, faculty and
staff positions, programs, and recreational space.
Some of their giving stems from very personal reasons. “Duke
provided me with a global vision that I did not have coming from
a small town,” Morris says. “It broadened my horizons,
and we want to help others have the opportunity to be transformed.”
To that end they have supported Trinity undergraduate scholarships,
athletic scholarships, and Divinity School fellowships. A retired
partner of the investment management firm Miller, Anderson and Sherrerd,
Morris got his start at Mellon Bank with the help of the late Fannie
Mitchell, director of the career center for 26 years. She greatly
increased the number of firms recruiting at Duke, and according
to Morris, those whom she recommended “got the job.”
In gratitude, the Williamses first endowed a career conference series
in her name and then the Fannie Mitchell Career Development Directorship.
“The great trademark of Duke has been its strong leaders
across many different fronts,” Morris says, “and it
is very exciting to make contributions to expand and support their
vision.” Ruth and Morris “wanted to be a part of”
the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership and also helped fund the
renovation of East Campus recreational facilities. They established
a prize to encourage medical research and supported professorships
honoring Provost Thomas Langford and Senior Vice President Charles
Putman. While Morris believes “this campaign has been a great
catalyst for each school and area of the University to put forth
and advance its vision,” he insists that its end does not
mark the fulfillment of all that Duke can be. “We should celebrate
the investments made, but if Duke uses these investments wisely,
there will surely be additional opportunities to further Duke’s
excellence.”e
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