Federal Reserve Board Member and ODU Alumna Betsy Duke to Receive Economic Impact Award
Federal Reserve Board member and Old Dominion University alumna Betsy Duke will receive the Economics Club of Hampton Roads' third annual Economic Impact Award at a dinner ceremony Thursday, Feb. 18.
The event, which will be held from 5-8 p.m. at the Marriott Waterside in Norfolk, is sponsored by the Economics Club, TowneBank, KPMG, Virginia Bankers Association and ODU's College of Business and Public Administration. The cost is $65 for nonmembers. Reservations are required and can be made by calling 683-5138.
Duke was nominated to the Fed by President George W. Bush and took office on Aug. 5, 2008.
Prior to her appointment, she was senior executive vice president and chief operating officer of TowneBank, a Virginia-based community bank. Prior to this, Duke was an executive vice president at Wachovia Bank, and an executive vice president at SouthTrust Bank. Earlier in her career, she was president and chief executive officer of Bank of Tidewater, based in Virginia Beach.
Duke was on the board of directors of the American Bankers Association from 1999 to 2006, and served as its chair from 2004-05. She also served on the board of directors and as president of the Virginia Bankers Association. From 1998 to 2000, Duke served on the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. She has also served as a member of the Fannie Mae National Advisory Council.
Aside from her work in the banking industry, Duke has held many civic positions, including service on the boards of directors of the Virginia Council on Economic Education, Hampton Roads Partnership, Old Dominion University Foundation and Economics Club of Hampton Roads. She also served on the Virginia Legislative Subcommittee to Study Capital Access and Business Financing and was on the Board of Commissioners of the Norfolk Airport Authority.
A Virginia native, Duke received her bachelor's degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her M.B.A. from ODU. She is also a graduate of the Stonier Graduate School of Banking and the Virginia Bankers School of Bank Management.
The Economics Club of Hampton Roads established the Economic Impact Award in 2008 to recognize outstanding practitioners of sound economic and financial policy, as well as the inextricable ties among our local, national and international economies. The major criterion for the award is that the honoree's economic/financial impact be wide-ranging and perceived by all to be for the common good.