Funderburk Retiring

Stepping down: alumni director Funderburk. Photo: Jim Wallace

Laney Funderburk '60, associate vice president for alumni affairs and development and director of the Office of Alumni Affairs, is stepping down December 31. Funderburk came to Duke in 1982 from The Duke Endowment, where he was director of the education division and public information from 1977 to 1982.

Funderburk had worked for the alumni office at Duke beginning right after graduation--from 1960 to 1973. From 1973 to 1977, he was deputy secretary of the North Carolina Department of Commerce and, later, special assistant and then chief of staff for Governor James E. Holshouser.

As the senior alumni-relations officer at Duke, he serves an alumni body of 120,000, overseeing a staff of twenty-six and a budget that exceeds $4.2 million. During his tenure, Duke Magazine was established, the alumni education and travel program was expanded, class reunions were consolidated and revamped, information-technology initiatives were introduced, and an affinity credit card was put in place to create revenue for increased alumni programming.

Funderburk is a past chair and current member of the board of directors for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, District III, and a former trustee for CASE, representing the district. He has been a member of the Council for Alumni Association Executives since 1989 and chair of its board of directors in 1998-99.

Harold "Spike" Yoh Jr. B.S.E. '58, trustee emeritus, has been appointed chair of the search committee for Funderburk's successor. Candidates will be presented this summer to Robert S. Shepard, the newly appointed vice president for alumni affairs and development. To submit nominations and for information, contact Mary Jane Morrow '80, Ph.D. '99, Box 90032, Durham, N.C. 27708, (919) 684-3902.