New Secretary and VP Riddell

Riddell: taking center stage in the president's office. Les Todd

Richard Riddell, special assistant to President Richard H. Brodhead, has been named vice president and university secretary. As special assistant, Riddell functions as the president's chief of staff. In his added role as vice president and university secretary, he will coordinate the activities of the board of trustees, oversee university ceremonies such as commencement, and manage hiring and review processes for senior university officials.

Riddell, who has a background in theater and lighting, joined the theater-studies faculty at Duke in 1992. He chaired the department before taking a post as special assistant to Provost Peter Lange from 2003 to 2004. In 2004, Riddell was named special assistant to the president, though he also retains the title of Mary D.B.T. and James H. Semans Professor of the practice of theater studies.

In his professional life, he has received the Tony, Drama Desk, and Maharam (now Hewes Design) awards for excellence in lighting design and has worked on productions on Broadway and at resident theater and opera companies in the U.S. and Great Britain.