DISC Advisory Board Members:

Mayassa Al Thani:
Sheikha Mayassa bint Hamad Al Thani graduated from Duke University in 2005 with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Literature, and also studied for a year in Paris. Having assisted numerous humanitarian endeavors in and beyond Qatar, she currently serves as the Chair of the Qatar Foundation’s “Reach Out to Asia” initiative, a philanthropic effort inspired by the desire to help the victims of recent natural disasters in Asia, at the same time that she serves as the Chair of Qatar’s National Foundation of Museums and as an Assistant to the Chief of Staff of Qatar’s Emiri Diwan.

Kecia Ali:
An Assistant Professor of Religion at Boston University, Kecia Ali graduated from Stanford and received her Ph.D. in Islamic Studies from Duke University, where she was also a James B. Duke fellow. Her research interests center on Islamic religious texts, especially jurisprudence, and women in both classical and contemporary Muslim discourses.

Mary Louise B. Bartlett:
Molly Bartlett graduated from Duke with a degree in sociology and continued her studies at Stanford, where she met her husband Tom. From 1963-1977, the Bartletts lived in Egypt, where Tom served as president of American University of Cairo. Molly has remained active in university life through the years and during her stay in Egypt developed a deep interest in Islamic and Arab culture. The Bartletts currently reside in Portland, Oregon.

Tom Bartlett:
Tom Bartlett is a former Rhodes Scholar who has had a distinguished career in higher education. He served as president of American University in Cairo from 1963-1977. In 1977 he accepted the presidency of Colgate University where he served until 1982. He has also served as the Chancellor of the Alabama State System, the Oregon State System and the New York State system and as president of the Association of American Universities. Molly and Tom Bartlett returned to Cairo in 2002 where he served as interim President of the American University of Cairo. Tom has served on numerous boards, the Council on Foreign Relations, the International Association of Universities, and travels regularly to the Middle East as a consultant to higher education institutions.

Ken Close:

A 1981 Duke graduate magna cum laude, with a degree in International Relations, Mr. Close grew up in Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries. He is the founder of two investment firms, an entrepreneur, and a specialist in U.S. relations with the Middle East. Most recently, he served as Senior Policy Advisor to His Royal Highness Prince Turki Al-Faisal when the Prince was the Kingdom's Ambassador to the United States. His second investment company is engaged in numerous merchant banking activities and is launching a fund that will acquire western companies with the technology and know-how critical to the current new wave of industrial development taking place in the Middle East. He currently sits on the Board of the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University. He lives in Washington D.C. with his wife, Elizabeth, and their four children.

Connie Duckworth:

Ms. Duckworth holds a B.A. from the University of Texas, and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. She serves pro bono as President and Chairman of the Board of Arzu, Inc. and is an active member of the U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council, a bi-partisan public/private partnership established by Presidents Bush and Karzai in 2002. She is a retired Partner and Managing Director of Goldman, Sachs, & Co., where she was named the first woman sales and trading partner in the firm’s history during her 20 year career. She wrote a primer on how to start a business: The Old Girls Network: Insider Advice for Women Building Businesses in a Man’s World (Basic Books 2003). Ms. Duckworth is the first woman Chair of the Board of Evanston Northwestern Healthcare. She sits on the Board of Trustees of Northwestern Mutual, the Boards of Directors of Smurfit Stone Container Corporation, DNP Select Income Fund and the Board of Overseers of the Wharton School. She is a past Chair of the Committee of 200, the organization of leading women entrepreneurs and corporate business executives in the U.S.

Eugene V. Fife:
Gene Fife is a retired partner of Goldman Sachs. For ten years he was in charge of Goldman’s operations in Europe and the Middle East. Gene is a graduate of Virginia Tech and the Graduate School of USC. He is founding principal of Vawter LLC, a private investment firm. Gene serves as a director of the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia and is on the Board of Caterpillar, Inc. Gene currently has two children enrolled as students at Duke.

Seham Al Foraih:
Seham Al Foraih is Professor of Arabic Literature at Kuwait University. She is Vice President of the Arab Organization of Human Rights and Chairwoman of the National Society of the Protection of Children.

James P. Gorter, Chair:
Jim Gorter graduated from Princeton University in 1951 and attended the London School of Economics on a Woodrow Wilson fellowship. He is a retired partner and member of the Management Committee of Goldman Sachs. He has two children who graduated from Duke.

M. Farooq Kathwari:
Farooq Kathwari is the Chairman, President and Chief Executive officer of Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. He graduated from Kashmir University with a degree in English Literature and Political Science. He also earned an M.B.A. in International Marketing from New York University. Mr. Kathwari is active in a number of philanthropic organizations including Refugees’ International, World Conference of Religions for Peace and the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University.

Nauman Khan:
Nauman is a graduate of Stanford University where he earned a B.A. in Economics and an M.S. in Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management. He is a citizen of Pakistan and a director of Moiz Textile Mills.

Bettye Musham:
Bettye Martin Musham is a graduate of Duke University. In 1978 she founded Gear Holdings, Inc. to develop and implement brands through design, licensing and marketing. Bettye has served as a director of various corporations and is on the Board of the Duke University Hospital.

Farhan Nizami:
Farhan Nizami is a Founding Director of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies and a fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford. He was educated at Aligarh Muslim University and received his D.Phil. from Wadham College, Oxford.

Charles Ogburn:
Charlie, a graduate of Duke University, earned his law degree from Vanderbilt University School of Law. He is currently an Executive Director of Arcapita, an international investment firm based in Bahrain. Charlie’s son entered Duke in the fall of 2007.

Marjorie Ransom:
A Middle East specialist and Arabic speaker, Marjorie Ransom spent her career in the U.S. Information Agency. She was the first female Foreign Service Officer in Amman, Jordan in 1963 and subsequently headed public affairs sections in the American Embassies of Sanaa, Yemen; Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; Damascus, Syria; and Cairo, Egypt. In 1995-1997, she served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Damascus. From 1997 to 2000, she was the Director of the Department of State’s foreign press centers in Washington, New York and Los Angeles.

Ayşe Soysal:

Former President of Boğaziçi University in Istanbul, one of Turkey's elite universities, Dr. Soysal received her high school diploma in 1967 from the American College for Girls in Istanbul, and bachelor's degrees with high honors in Mathematics and Physics from Robert College in 1971.

Prof. Soysal pursued further education in the United States, where she received her master's (1973) and doctoral (1976) degrees in Mathematics from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Prior to becoming the first woman President of Boğaziçii University in 2004, Prof. Soysal also held office as vice dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, and chair of the Department of Mathematics. She has been highly visible as a promoter of academic freedom who welcomed controversial conferences to her campus. She is also a tireless promoter of raising educational investments in Turkey at all levels and through both public and private sources.

Marzuki Usman:
Marzuki Usman is a citizen of Indonesia. In 1969 he received his undergraduate degree from the Faculty of Economics, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. He obtained his M.A. in Economics from Duke University in 1975. Marzuki has occupied a number of important ministerial posts in the Indonesian government, including Minister of Tourism, and Minister of Agriculture. He is currently acting as a consultant and advisor to various public and private companies as well as other domestic and international organizations in Indonesia.