Duke University Names Seven New Trustees

Anne Faircloth T’91, is a farmer from Clinton, N.C., and president of Buffalo Investments and Lafayette Farms. She owns and manages multiple agricultural and real estate businesses in Sampson County, N.C. Faircloth strives to promote connections between business, philanthropy and government to improve the lives and livelihoods of people living in eastern North Carolina.

She serves as a trustee of the Anonymous Trust and a member of the boards of the NC Rural Center, the North Carolina Museum of Art, UNC Health, the Madeira School, the Sampson Community College Foundation, and the North Carolina Board of Agriculture.

Faircloth graduated from Duke cum laude. She has served on the Annual Fund Advisory Board and the Climate Commitment Task Force. She also has served as a reunion class chair. She received an M.A. in English and Creative Writing from Hollins University in 2000. In 2021, she was named a Knight of the French Legion of Honor.

Garheng Kong G’00, M’01, B’03, is managing partner and founder of HealthQuest Capital, a private asset firm that provides growth capital to transformative companies improving value in the health care system. A physician, scientist and engineer by training, Kong has more than two decades of experience investing in innovative companies in all areas of health care and has led more than 35 companies to successful public offerings or mergers.

He serves as lead director of LabCorp and on the boards of Xeris Biopharma Holdings, Be The Match, Dell Children’s Foundation, UT President’s Commercial Advisory Board, and the Austin Healthcare Council Board. He is an Aspen Institute Health Innovators Fellow, Kauffman Fellows Mentor, and member of YPO.

Kong earned his Ph.D., M.D., and MBA degrees from Duke University. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Duke University Health System (DUHS). He received undergraduate degrees in both Chemical Engineering and Biological Sciences from Stanford, while on an athletic scholarship.

David (Randy) Peeler T’87, is a senior advisor at Berkshire Partners. He joined the firm in 1996 and served as a managing director from 2000 to 2017. He has represented the firm’s interests on a wide range of portfolio boards, including Affordable Care Inc., Charette Inc., Curriculum Associates, Holmes Products, Husky Technologies, Lightower Fiber Networks, Miami Cruiseline Services, and United BioSource.

Previously, Peeler also served as special assistant to the assistant secretary for economic policy in the U.S. Department of the Treasury and as a consultant with Health Advances, Cannon Associates and Bain & Co. He serves on the boards of several privately held companies and serves as chair of the Board of National Vision Inc. (EYE). Peeler chairs the board of the Huntington Theatre Company and serves on the board of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston. He helped found and serves on the board of Unite America, a nonpartisan philanthropic venture fund focused on electoral reform, and serves on the Leadership Council for the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School.

At Duke, he served on the Trinity College of Arts & Sciences Board of Visitors and Sanford School of Public Policy Board of Visitors. He received his MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Connie Mitchell Shelton D’97, was elected to the episcopacy of The United Methodist Church in November 2022. Her assignment as Resident Bishop, North Carolina Episcopal Area, commenced on January 1, 2023, in the North Carolina Conference, one of 53 conferences of The United Methodist Church in the United States. As Bishop, she oversees the work of 433 churches and 936 clergy leaders across 56 counties in eastern North Carolina.

Shelton has served as pastor of rural, urban, small, medium and large membership churches. She was director of field education at Duke Divinity School, executive director of The United Methodist Hour radio and television ministry of the Mississippi Conference, director of Connectional Ministries, and a district superintendent of The United Methodist Church.

She is an emeritus member of the Board of Visitors of Duke Divinity School, where she earned her master’s degree. Shelton holds a Bachelor of Science in Radio, Television, and Film and a Master of Arts in Public Relations from The University of Southern Mississippi. She also received a Doctor of Ministry from Columbia Theological Seminary.

Robert (Max) Perkins T’04, a leading figure in cyber risk management, is head of insurance solutions and chief operating officer for Spektrum Labs, an early-stage technology company. Prior to joining Spektrum, Perkins was head of strategy and innovation for AXIS Capital’s Cyber & Technology underwriting division, where his responsibilities included capital management and leading their team to launching the world’s first securitized Cyber Cat Bond. Prior to joining AXIS, he was an insurance broker at Lockton Companies and an underwriter at AIG, CHUBB and Beazley (a Lloyd’s of London Syndicate).

While at Duke, Perkins was manager for the men’s basketball team, a leader on Campus Council, and a member of Pi Kappa Alpha.

He has remained engaged at Duke by serving on several Duke Alumni regional boards and he currently serves as president-elect of the global Duke Alumni Board. Additionally, Perkins contributes his time and expertise through the office of Residential Life, the Career Center, the Athletic Department’s Future Initiative, and as an executive speaker in the Master of Engineering in Cybersecurity and Executive Cybersecurity Education programs.

As president-elect of Duke Alumni, Perkins will serve a four-year term on the Board of Trustees, as an observer during his first two years, then as a trustee with voting privileges during his remaining two years.

Austin Beason B’26 was nominated by the Graduate and Professional Young Trustee Nominating Committee. He is an MBA candidate at the Fuqua School of Business participating in their Executive MBA program. Beason is an orthopaedic surgeon in Springfield, Illinois, at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. His desire to be a better patient advocate and broaden his impact in health care led Beason to pursue his MBA at Duke.

He earned his M.D. degree and completed his orthopaedic surgery residency at Southern Illinois University, before completing his hand and upper extremity surgery fellowship at the University of Florida. During his training, he hosted the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) Career Podcast with a focus on professional development for early career orthopedic surgeons as well as the Journal of the AAOS Unplugged podcast.

Beason has published nearly 20 peer-reviewed medical research publications, serves on the Membership Council of the AAOS, and was awarded Resident Teacher of the Year in 2020 by the Department of Surgery at Southern Illinois.

Beason will serve as an observer during his first year on the board and will have voting privileges in his second year.

Nominated by the Undergraduate Young Trustee Nominating Committee, Jax Nalley T’25, was a Robertson Scholar. He graduated in May with majors in public policy and Romance studies. His previous roles at Duke included serving as chief of staff for Duke Student Government (DSG), a Chapel Scholar, and a member of the POLIS Student Committee. He also served on the Trinity College of Arts & Sciences Board of Visitors and was a student member of the Board of Trustees Undergraduate Education Committee.

While at Duke, Nalley supported the university’s public service mission. He advocated for Durham residents facing homelessness with the Community Empowerment Fund and interned on the health and veterans team of President Biden’s Domestic Policy Council. He also founded the Karsh Student Advisory Board, which provides student perspectives on undergraduate financial aid decisions.

This fall, Nalley will begin his first year at Harvard Law School, where he hopes to grow into a civil rights lawyer focused on issues of economic justice, enfranchisement, and criminal justice reform in the South.

Nalley will serve as an observer during his first year on the board and will have voting privileges in his second and third years.