Nannerl Keohane | |
|---|---|
 Keohane in the 1980s | |
| 8th President ofDuke University | |
| In office July 1, 1993 – June 30, 2004 | |
| Preceded by | H. Keith H. Brodie |
| Succeeded by | Richard H. Brodhead |
| 11th President ofWellesley College | |
| In office July 1, 1981 – June 30, 1993 | |
| Preceded by | Barbara W. Newell |
| Succeeded by | Diana Walsh |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Nannerl Overholser (1940-09-18)September 18, 1940 (age 85) Blytheville, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Residence | Douglas M. and Grace Knight House |
| Alma mater | Wellesley College (BA) Oxford University (BA) Yale University (PhD) |
| Academic background | |
| Thesis | Democratic monarchy: The political theory of the Marquis d'Argenson (1968) |
| Doctoral advisor | Roger Masters |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Political science |
| Institutions | |
Nannerl "Nan"Overholser Keohane (born September 18, 1940, inBlytheville, Arkansas)[1] is an Americanpolitical theorist and former president ofWellesley College andDuke University. Until September 2014, Keohane was theLaurance S. Rockefeller Distinguished Visiting Professor of Public Affairs and the University Center for Human Values atPrinceton University.[2][3] She is now a professor in social sciences at theInstitute for Advanced Study, Princeton, where she is researching the theory and practice of leadership in democratic societies.[4]
Keohane earned her first undergraduate degree in 1961 fromWellesley College,[1] and her second bachelor's degree atOxford University as aMarshall Scholar. Keohane received her doctorate in political science fromYale University in 1967.[1]
Keohane began her career in academia teaching atSwarthmore College (1967–73),Stanford University (1973–81), and theUniversity of Pennsylvania.[1] At Stanford, she was chair of the faculty senate and won the Gores Award for Excellence in Teaching, the university's highest teaching honor.
Keohane served as eleventh president of Wellesley from 1981 to 1993, while also continuing to teach political science.[1] At Wellesley, she oversaw increased enrollment of minority students, led the expansion of the Sports Center and the construction of the Davis Museum and Cultural Center, and implemented major advances in technology throughout the campus.[5]
Keohane became the thirteenth president at Duke in 1993. During her tenure, she was also a professor of political science, led efforts to increase minority student enrollment, diversified faculty, and oversaw the Women's Initiative. Keohane also helped raise $2.36 billion during The Campaign for Duke, which ended in 2003, making it the fifth-largest campaign in the history of American higher education.[6]
Keohane left her position at Duke in 2004, and in 2005 was named Laurance S. Rockefeller Distinguished Visiting Professor of Public Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School and the University Center for Human Values atPrinceton University.[2]
Keohane's books includeThinking about Leadership (2010),Philosophy and the State in France: The Renaissance to the Enlightenment (1980), andFeminist Theory: A Critique of Ideology (1982). Some of Keohane's speeches were published in 1995 inA Community Worthy of the Name,[1] and more in 2006 inHigher Ground: Ethics and Leadership in the Modern University.[7]
In 2009-11, Keohane chaired a committee on undergraduate women's leadership atPrinceton University, appointed by PresidentShirley M. Tilghman.[8] She has also launched discussions on the future of women's leadership,[9] and on the future ofliberal education.[10]
In fall 2013 she was at theAmerican Academy in Berlin as the Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Visitor.
In 1991, Keohane was elected to theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences.[11] In 1994, she was elected to theAmerican Philosophical Society.[12] Keohane was inducted into theNational Women's Hall of Fame in 1995.[1] In 1998, Keohane received the Golden Plate Award of theAmerican Academy of Achievement.[13] She has served on many community and professional bodies,[14] including being active in theMarshall Scholarship Alumni Association.[15]
In 1996, following nearly 3 years of intense litigation over the estate ofDoris Duke, Keohane was named as one of the "six people [who] would sit as trustees of the charitable foundations established by Miss Duke's will.".[16] In 2008, Keohane was chair of the Board of Trustees of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDCF)Home | Doris Duke Foundation during the controversy[17][18][19] over the Trustees decision[20] to close and dismantleDuke Gardens, established in 1958[21] byDoris Duke in honor of her fatherJames Buchanan Duke.[22] Representatives of the DDCF stated that the Gardens were "perpetuating the Duke family history of personal passions and conspicuous consumption."[23]
Keohane is a former member of theHarvard Corporation, the governing body ofHarvard University, and a rare member of that body not to have earned a degree from Harvard. In April 2013, Keohane told Harvard students advocating for climate change divestment that they should instead "ThankBP" for its investment in clean energy.[24] The comment caused an uproar among Harvard students, leading climate activistBill McKibben to tweet the following:
"Harvard behaving outrageously to divestment campaign, trustee urges students to 'thank BP'[25]"
Bill McKibben (@billmckibben) April 10, 2013[26]
Keohane was born inBlytheville, Arkansas, and graduated from high school inHot Springs, Arkansas.
Her first husband was Patrick Henry, a Professor of Religion at Swarthmore College.
Her husband isRobert Keohane, also a noted political scientist.[3] Her sister,Geneva Overholser, is a prominent journalist and currently director of theSchool of Journalism at theUniversity of Southern California. Keohane and her husband have four grown children: Sarah, Stephan, Jonathan, andNathaniel.
Keohane's last name is often subject to mispronunciation. While the most common pronunciation isKee-oh-hayne, following the name's phonetics, the correct pronunciation isKoh-hann, incorporating a silent 'e' and a hard 'a'.[citation needed]
it's the final months of the gardens being on display in the greenhouses that have enchanted visitors since 1964
