Ambassador James A. Joseph, Chairman of the Board
Duke University, Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy
A native of Opelousas, Louisiana and a graduate of Southern University and Yale, Ambassador Joseph has a distinguished career in government, business, philanthropy and education. He currently heads the United States-South Africa Center for Leadership and Public Values that he founded at both Duke University and the University of Cape Town. Prior to this, he served under four U.S. Presidents, most recently as United States Ambassador to South Africa.
Ambassador Joseph spend 14 years as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Council on Foundations, an international association of foundations and corporate giving programs whose members have more than $200 billion in assets. From 1996-2000, he served as Ambassador to South Africa in the Clinton Administration, where he was the first and only American Ambassador to present his credentials to Nelson Mandela.
Ambassador Joseph also served as Under Secretary of the Department of the Interior in the Administration of President Jimmy Carter, as an incorporating director of the Points of Light Foundation, and as a member of the Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges under President George H. W. Bush. He was Founding Chairman of the Corporation for National Service that established Americorps under President Clinton and he serves presently as Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Housing Partnership Foundation in Washington, D.C. He has been involved in establishing foundations across the United States as wellas in Latin America, Europe, Africa and Asia.
Ambassador Joseph was honored by the Republic of South Africa with the "Order of Good Hope," the highest award presented to a citizen on another country. He has also received a number of awards from his home state of Louisiana, including the Chancellor's medal from Louisiana State University, an honorary doctorate from Southern University where a special academic Chair has been established in his name, and he has received special citations for meritorious achievement by both the Louisiana Senate and the House of Representatives.
