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"THE ESTABLISHMENT AND EVOLUTION OF THE DORIS DUKE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION:  A CASE STUDY IN STRATEGIC PHILANTHROPY" 

Ms. Spero will be introduced by Betsy Fader, Chief Program Officer of The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation

This program is generously sponsored by Ghiorsi & Sorrenti. 
                      
Joan E. Spero is currently a Visiting Scholar at the Foundation Center, which works to strengthen the non-profit sector by collecting and disseminating information, conducting research, and offering educational programs on the world of philanthropy. She is working on a research and writing project on the relationship of global philanthropy and U.S. foreign policy.

From 1997 to the end of 2008, Ms. Spero served as President of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. The foundation makes grants in the performing arts, environmental preservation, medical research and prevention of child abuse. Ms. Spero also serves as President of the Duke Farms Foundation, a 2,700 acre property in New Jersey devoted to environmental stewardship; and the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art, whose mission is the study and understanding of Islamic arts and culture.

From 1993 to 1997, Ms. Spero served in the U.S. Department of State as Undersecretary for Economic, Business, and Agricultural Affairs. From 1981 to 1993, she held several offices with American Express Company, the last being Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Communications. She was Ambassador to the United Nations for Economic and Social Affairs from 1980 to 1981 and an Assistant Professor at Columbia University from 1973 to 1979. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Wisconsin and holds a master’s degree in international affairs and a doctorate in political science from Columbia University. She also studied at the Institut d’Études Politiques in Paris and is fluent in French.

Ms. Spero has authored several books, including The Politics of International Economic Relations (7th Edition, 2009) and The Failure of the Franklin National Bank (1980). She also has contributed to numerous professional journals.

Active in professional associations in foreign affairs and economics, Ms. Spero is a member of the Council of American Ambassadors, the Academy of Diplomacy and the American Philosophical Society. She is an honorary trustee of the Brookings Institution and serves as a Trustee of Columbia University, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. She is a Director of IBM and ING.