New Trustees
News Release Date: April 18, 2012
Research Triangle Park, N.C. At its most recent meeting on March 30, the board of trustees of the National Humanities Center elected three new trustees.
The newly elected board members are John O'Hara, C. Allen Parker, and A. Morris Williams, Jr.
"We are extremely pleased to have these three distinguished individuals join our board," said Geoffrey Harpham, the Center's president and director. "From its founding to the present day, the Center has greatly benefited from the leadership and support of a remarkable collection of men and women who have served as our trustees. Mr. O'Hara, Mr. Parker, and Mr. Williams are wonderful additions to that outstanding group."
O'Hara is a managing director and senior advisor with Rockefeller Financial in New York. He previously served as a managing director in the Investment Management division of Goldman Sachs as well as of Commodities Corporation. He is the recent past chairman of the Institute for the Arts and Humanities at the University of North Carolina, president of the Kenan Flagler Business School Foundation, and a member of the board of governors of The University of North Carolina Press. He received an MBA from the Kenan-Flagler Business School of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a BA in political science from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Parker is the deputy presiding partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP and has been recognized as one of the nation's leading practitioners in the areas of corporate governance and banking and finance law. He joined Cravath in 1984 following a clerkship with the Hon. Amalya Kearse of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He serves as a member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, as a member of the City Bar's Corporation Law Committee, and as a member of the New York State Bar Association. Parker received a BA magna cum laude from Duke University, an MA from the University of Chicago, and a JD magna cum laude from Columbia Law School.
Williams is the president of Williams & Company and was previously with Morgan Stanley and a partner with Miller, Anderson & Sherrerd. He is currently chairman of the Pine Tree Foundation as well as a member of the board of the Philadelphia Scholars Fund. His extensive philanthropic work includes service on the board of trustees at Duke University, as well as on the boards of the Milton Hershey School, CARE, Duke Management Company, and the Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation, among others. Parker is a graduate of Duke University, where he received a bachelor of arts with distinction in history as well as a master of arts in teaching.
About the National Humanities Center
The National Humanities Center (nationalhumanitiescenter.org) is one of the leading institutes for advanced study in the world and the only one dedicated exclusively to the humanities. Privately incorporated and governed by a distinguished board of trustees from academic, professional, and public life, the Center was planned under the auspices of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and began operation in 1978. It provides a national focus for the best work in the liberal arts, drawing attention to the enduring value of ancient and modern history, language and literature, ethical and moral reflection, artistic and cultural traditions, and critical thought in every area of humanistic investigation. By encouraging excellence in scholarship, the Center seeks to ensure the continuing strength of the liberal arts and to affirm the importance of the humanities in American life.