Honorees

President Joseph R. Biden Jr.

Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the first of four children of Catherine Eugenia Finnegan Biden and Joseph Robinette Biden, Sr. In 1953, the Biden family moved to Claymont, Delaware. President Biden graduated from the University of Delaware and Syracuse Law School and served on the New Castle County Council.

At age 29, President Biden became one of the youngest people ever elected to the United States Senate. Just weeks after his Senate election, tragedy struck the Biden family when his wife Neilia and daughter Naomi were killed, and sons Hunter and Beau were critically injured in an auto accident.

Biden was sworn into the U.S. Senate at his sons’ hospital bedsides and began commuting from Wilmington to Washington every day, first by car, and then by train, in order to be with his family. He would continue to do so throughout his time in the Senate.

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A. Eugene Washington, M.D., MPH, M.Sc.

Dr. Eugene Washington (B.S. ’72) has dedicated his entire career to improving the health and healthcare of the American people. An internationally renowned clinical investigator and health policy scholar, Dr. Washington has been a leader in assessing medical technologies, developing clinical practice guidelines, and establishing disease prevention policies, particularly in women’s health. The thread that runs throughout all of this work is improving quality of healthcare and eliminating racial/ethnic disparities in health outcomes. His research and numerous publications have greatly impacted the practice of medicine in prenatal genetic testing, cervical cancer screening and prevention, noncancerous uterine conditions management, and reproduction-related infections. His executive leadership has inspired academic health systems to adopt public health principles as core to their mission. His service to the nation through professional and government boards and committees has emphasized the importance of health equity and community engagement in health policy and public discourse. 

Dr. Washington has held academic leadership positions and senior executive posts in three prominent academic health systems. Currently, Dr. Washington is chancellor for health affairs at Duke University, where he also served as president and CEO of the Duke University Health System. Just prior to Duke, Dr. Washington served as vice chancellor of health sciences, dean of the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and CEO of the UCLA Health System. At the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), Dr. Washington served as executive vice chancellor and provost. There, he co-founded and directed the Medical Effectiveness Research Center for Diverse Populations, one of the first centers of excellence conducting research on health services for minority populations. Before joining the faculty at UCSF, Dr. Washington was an epidemiologist and clinical investigator at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta. 

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James E. Clyburn

James E. Clyburn is the assistant Democratic leader in the United States House of Representatives and chairman of the Democratic Faith Working Group. He previously served in the post from 2011 to 2018 and served as majority whip from 2007 to 2010 and 2019 to 2022, making him the first African American to serve multiple terms as majority whip. A native son of South Carolina, Clyburn has represented the state’s Sixth Congressional District since 1993.

Congressman Clyburn’s humble beginnings in Sumter, South Carolina, as the eldest son of an activist, fundamentalist minister and an independent, civic-minded beautician, grounded him securely in family, faith, and public service. A 1961 graduate of South Carolina State, he began his professional career as a public-school teacher in Charleston, South Carolina. He later served as an employment counselor, and director of two youth and community development programs. In 1971, he joined the staff of Governor John C. West, becoming the first African American advisor to a South Carolina governor. In 1974 Governor West appointed him South Carolina human affairs commissioner where he served until 1992 when he retired from state government to run for Congress.

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Benaree Pratt Wiley

Benaree Pratt Wiley (Bennie) (B.A. ‘68) is a corporate director and trustee. For 15 years, Wiley was the president and chief executive officer of The Partnership, Inc., an organization that strengthened Greater Boston’s capacity to attract, retain, and develop talented professionals of color.     

Wiley is currently a director on boards of the BNY Mellon Mutual Funds and CBIZ (NYSE: CBZ). She has served as the chair of PepsiCo’s African American Advisory Board, and formerly served on the boards of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts and First Albany (NASDAQ: FACT). Her civic activities include serving on the boards of Dress for Success Boston, Spaulding Hospital, the Black Economic Alliance, and formerly Howard University where she served as vice chair. In 2022, the National Association of Corporate Directors New England awarded Wiley the Director of the Year Award in Non-Profit Leadership. 

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Bruce A. Karsh

Bruce A. Karsh is co-founder and co-chairman of Oaktree Capital Management, a global alternative investment company with $170 billion of assets under management. He is also chief investment officer and serves as portfolio manager for Oaktree’s flagship opportunities funds and its multi-strategy credit funds. Bruce Karsh holds an A.B. in economics from Duke University (1977), and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law (1980). Now a trustee emeritus of Duke University, Mr. Karsh served as trustee from 2003 to 2015, and as chairman of the board of DUMAC from 2005 to 2014. 

Bruce Karsh and Martha L. Karsh, his wife of 43 years, founded the Karsh Family Foundation in 1998 which supports education, democracy, and community. Through the foundation, the Karshes have granted over $400 million for education, professorships and scholarships, principally for undergraduate financial aid. At Duke University, the undergraduate financial aid department is named after the Karshes. The Karshes have established major scholarship programs at Duke, the University of Virginia Law School, the University of Pennsylvania, Howard University, Spelman College, and Brown University. Two of them are top merit scholarship programs: the Karsh STEM Scholars Program at Howard University and the Karsh-Dillard Scholarships at Virginia Law School. 

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Martha L. Karsh

Martha L. Karsh is a graduate of the University of Virginia and Virginia Law School. She co-founded architectural and design firm Clark & Karsh and, in 2016, published “The Beatles A Hard Day’s Night: A Private Archive.” Martha Karsh currently serves on the national board of KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) Foundation, co-chairs the bicentennial “Honor the Future Campaign for the University of Virginia,” and is a trustee emerita of the University of Virginia Law School Foundation.

She successfully led a $70 million growth campaign for KIPP in Los Angeles. Martha Karsh and Bruce A. Karsh, her husband of 43 years, founded the Karsh Family Foundation in 1998 which supports education, democracy and community. Through the foundation, the Karshes have granted over $400 million for education, professorships, and scholarships, principally for undergraduate financial aid. At Duke University, the undergraduate financial aid department is named after the Karshes. The Karshes have established major scholarship programs at Duke, the University of Virginia Law School, the University of Pennsylvania, Howard University, Spelman College, and Brown University. Two of them are top merit scholarship programs: the Karsh STEM Scholars Program at Howard University and the Karsh-Dillard Scholarships at Virginia Law School. 

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Prime Minister Dr. Keith Christopher Rowley

Dr. Keith Christopher Rowley was born on October 24, 1949, in Mason Hall, Tobago, and was raised by his grandparents, who were prominent Tobago farmers. Dr. Rowley completed his secondary schooling at Bishop’s High School (BHS) Tobago. His sterling academic performance captured the prestigious Sylvan Bowles Scholarship at BHS. He then commenced his studies at the University of the West Indies in Mona, Jamaica, from where he graduated with a BSc in geology (first class honours) and geography (first class honours); he also earned his MSc in volcanic stratigraphy at UWI, St. Augustine.

He is a volcanologist who obtained his doctorate in geology, specializing in geochemistry. He is a known nature lover, who enjoys gardening, hiking, and golfing.

As a research scientist, he held the positions of research fellow and later head of the Seismic Research Unit at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine. He was also the general manager of state-owned National Quarries Company Limited.

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