Joel Fleishman, the founder of Duke University’s public policy program who spent over half his life working for the school, has died at the age of 90.
Duke shared the news of his passing in a Monday release , with university President Vincent Price remembering Fleishman as a “remarkable leader, person and scholar who played a prominent role in Duke University’s growth and development.”
Fleishman began his career at Duke in 1971, when former North Carolina Gov. Terry Sanford, who had then become university president, enlisted him to create what is now known as the Sanford School of Public Policy, one of the first undergraduate programs of its kind in the nation.
“My heart weeps for the loss of Joel,” Judith Kelley, who served as dean of the Sanford School until earlier this year, said in a release. “I cannot imagine the world without him ... Joel was a tireless advocate for those in need, an unstoppable creative force for solving problems to make the world a better place. He was beloved by so many whose lives he has changed.”
Fleishman served as director of Duke’s public policy school until 1983, though he continued teaching until May of last year.
In an interview with the Rutherfurd Living History Program, Fleishman once described his philosophy of a public policy program as “...to get smart people with lots of different perspectives working in the same faculty, having to listen to one another and being sure to take account of people’s perspectives from one another.”
Though he is perhaps best known for his role in founding the Sanford School, Fleishman’s former colleague Michael Schoenfeld described him as a “multifaceted diamond” who also had a deep commitment to his Jewish faith, published extensive scholarly work on philanthropy and developed a global network of close friends who cherished his legendary annual holiday cards.
“There is an old story, and I think truer than most would would acknowledge: There is a Joel Fleishman connection to everybody,” Schoenfeld, who attended the Sanford School and later worked with Fleishman as a senior administrator at Duke, said.
“No matter where you go, where you went — if you were in Washington or New York or Shanghai or London or Tulsa — there was always somebody that had a Joel Fleishman story.”
Contributions to Jewish community
Fleishman grew up in Fayetteville, and maintained deep ties to the area throughout his life, taking his father’s place as cantor of the local Beth Israel Synagogue.
“I believe that the core of Judaism is very basically a social-justice core and not only broadly speaking but just in terms of dealing with other people, it means that you have to behave in a way that is consonant with that tradition,” Fleishman once said.
Former UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Holden Thorp, who also grew up in Fayetteville, described Fleishman as a legend in the area who was well known for his contributions to the Jewish community.
Fleishman, who earned three degrees from UNC throughout his life, was also granted an honorary degree by Thorp in 2013 for his “outstanding accomplishment in the fields of higher education and philanthropy.”
UNC’s current chancellor, Lee Roberts, who attended Duke and later taught at the Sanford School, said Fleishman “changed many lives, including mine.”
“Whether you met him for the first time, or you were a lifelong friend, Joel’s commitment to public service and the greater good was a profound inspiration,” Roberts said. “His friendship, mentorship and wisdom made us all better people, and his quiet yet persistent leadership transformed North Carolina.”
Writer, scholar and wine connoisseur
For over 50 years, Fleishman taught philanthropy, voluntarism and not-for-profit law management at Duke while holding a variety of administrative positions within the university.
As a scholar of philanthropy, Fleishman published several books, including his most recent 2017 work, entitled “ Putting Wealth to Work: Philanthropy for Today or Investing for Tomorrow?”
Friends and colleagues also remembered Fleishman for his extracurricular pursuits, including his expertise in wine, which led to him writing a monthly wine column in Vanity Fair for eight years.
Over 2,600 of Fleishman’s acquaintances found themselves lucky enough to be placed on his annual holiday card list, which featured profound self-written poems contemplating the prior year.
“It was unlike any other holiday card or greeting that one would get,” Schoenfeld said. “It was chatty, it was spiritual, it was meaningful, it was educational. You felt like it was addressed to you.”
Services for Fleishman were held on Tuesday at Beth El Synagogue in Durham. Afterwards, a group of his closest friends and family boarded a bus together and transported his remains back to Fayetteville.
“There are three important constituencies in North Carolina that love and have been affected by Joel,” Thorp said. “One is Duke University. The other is the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. But the other one is Fayetteville, North Carolina.
“As a fellow citizen of Fayetteville, I’m really proud that Joel went on to do all the amazing things that he did. And that his remains have been taken back there, to the Jewish section of the Fayetteville cemetery, which is absolutely where this story should end.”
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