PUBLISHED:October 01, 2009

Fleishman to be honored at Duke Founder's Day convocation

Oct. 1, 2009 -- Duke University will honor outstanding faculty, employees, alumni, students and trustees at its annual Founders’ Day Convocation at 4 p.m. today in Duke Chapel.

Honorees at the ceremony, which is open to the public, include Joel L. Fleishman, who began his ongoing Duke career in 1971 as a law professor and director of what is now the Sanford School of Public Policy.

Fleishman will deliver the Founders’ Day address and receive the University Medal for Distinguished Service, one of Duke’s highest awards.

President Richard H. Brodhead will preside over the event, which takes place one day before the university’s Board of Trustees opens its fall meeting.

Fleishman began his career in 1960 as assistant to the director of the Walter E. Meyer Research Institute of Law at Yale University, the same year he received the LL.M. degree from the law school there. From 1961-1965, he served as legal assistant to North Carolina Gov. Terry Sanford, who became Duke’s president in 1969 and served until 1985.

Fleishman was the founding director of the Institute of Policy Sciences and Public Affairs (now the Sanford School of Public Policy), a position he held until 1983. He remains a professor of law and public policy studies. Fleishman directs Duke’s Heyman Center on Ethics, Public Policy and the Professions, and the Duke Foundation Research Program. His research interests include the accountability of nonprofits and foundations.

Watch Founders’ Day live webcast.