Spring 2007
Tony Brown to Become President of Robertson Scholars Program
After 13 years with the Hart Leadership Program, Tony Brown, professor
of the practice of public policy, is moving in a new direction.
In July 2007, Brown will take the helm of the Robertson Scholars
Program, a joint initiative between Duke and the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill. Brown will oversee an elite group of merit
scholars who, with access to resources at both Duke and UNC, engage
in academic, service and community pursuits.
As the creator of the Enterprising Leadership Initiative, Brown inspired countless HLP students to become “social entrepreneurs.” His public policy courses have spawned numerous student-engineered campus groups and service programs—the Center for Race Relations; Camp Kesem, a program for children coping with cancer in their families; and the Duke-UNC magazine RIVAL, to name a few.
For Brown, the name of the game is mentoring his ELI students to find their entrepreneurial potential and apply it in society. He has been known to tell people he “has the best job at Duke.”
“He's a very dynamic, exciting professor, and
that's his legacy—his teaching style, and his gift for meeting people
where they are and helping them learn the art of becoming creative
thinkers,” Alma Blount, director of HLP, said of Brown. “He helps
people see, even if they've never executed a bold idea in the past,
that they have the ability to do it…. I don't think anybody else
is as gifted as Tony is at helping people see themselves as having
this talent.”
HLP students say they see Brown not only as a celebrated professor but also as a friend and constant encouragement in their endeavors.
“One-on-one time is Tony's strength—he is a true
coach,” said Yoav Lurie, Trinity'05 and founder of Camp Kesem. “Tony
knew me during the times when I was growing most rapidly and in
the best ways—so when he gives me advice, it comes with perspective
not only of his many years of experience with the world, but now
with perspective of a few years working with me.”
As the head of the Robertson Scholars, Brown hopes to bring his pedagogy to a burgeoning program devoted to inter-institutional collaboration and community engagement.
“This new position provides a huge opportunity to have an impact,” Brown said. “If you look at the quality of the students, the resources and the support from these two great universities, there is great potential to encourage young people to act on their ideas.”
Julian Robertson, UNC '55, who founded the scholarship program in 2001, said in a statement that Brown's “interests, abilities, charisma and commitment to leadership insure that he will be a great leader of our scholars.”
To read more about Brown, ELI and the Robertson Scholars Program, visit: http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/2006/12/tony_brown.html.
|
