Bettina Umstead, Chair, Chair, Board of Education, Durham Public Schools

Bettina studied Middle Grades Education with a concentration in Language Arts & Social Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Upon graduation, she received her teaching license and chose to work full-time for Student U, a college access program in Durham. She began as the Middle School Program Director, coordinating Student U’s Middle School Summer Academy, a year-round tutoring program as well as serving as an advocate for students & families. Bettina was promoted to the position of Chief Program Officer and oversaw all student programs for 550 students & families ranging from 6th grade to college graduates. She supervised full-time staff members, served on the Leadership Team of the organization, developed community partnerships, and provided strategic vision for all of the Student U programs. After 10 years, Bettina transitioned from working at Student U to begin exploring her interest in racial equity and public education.

In 2016, Bettina was appointed to the Durham Public Schools Board of Education representing District 2 by a unanimous vote to complete Sendolo Dinamiah’s term. She won re-election in 2018 and currently serves as the Chair.

Jane Brasier, Vice Chair, Vice President of Business Development, Clark Nexsen

Jane Roycroft Brasier is a native of Durham and still lives in the neighborhood in which she grew up.  Both of her parents were from large families in Durham and go back several generations in Durham.  She attended Durham public schools and graduated from Jordan High School, then attended Duke as an undergrad and graduated with a degree in sociology. From there she went to UNC-Chapel Hill where she earned a master’s degree in public administration.  Her career has focused mostly on the architecture/engineering/construction industry in the Triangle area and she serves as Vice President of Business Development at Clark Nexsen, a nationally ranked architecture/engineering company with 10 offices in the southeast, (she is based in the Raleigh office). Jane has served on many non-profit boards including the Junior League of Durham and Orange Counties, Urban Land Institute – Triangle Chapter, Commercial Real Estate Women – Triangle Chapter and the Society for Marketing Professional Services – Triangle Chapter.  She is active with the NC Economic Developers Association and her downtown Durham church – Trinity United Methodist, and she is currently serving on the board of the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce.  Jane is married to Chris Brasier, FAIA who is also employed with Clark Nexsen, leading the education market sector, and he teaches part time in the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke. Jane has two adult children who also have degrees from Duke.

Mitchell Tuchman, Secretary, Attorney, Morningstar Law Group

Tuchman describes his professional background, move to Durham and motivation for serving on the Museum Board.  “Fourteen years ago I moved to Durham to commence a new career, my third, as a copyright attorney.  In fact, I was offered an opportunity to work in any of several North Carolina cities and chose Durham because of its proximity to Washington, D.C., where I had attended law school and where my friends resided.  The offer permitted me to transfer back to D.C. after two years, but I never left.

“I love this city.  I love it as it is, but I’m curious about what I missed.  People I meet here, wonderful though they are, make me think of those I never met.  Buildings I admire remind me of those they had been demolished before I could appreciate them.   Current events bring history to mind and make me wonder how I can become a son of Durham today.

“Because of my years as head of publications at the L.A. County Museum of Art and before that as senior editor at the UCLA Oral History Program, because I had served on the documentary selection committee for the Los Angeles film festival and am today an intellectual property attorney, I imagined that my experiences might have value for the Museum of Durham History and for Durham itself.  Being a part of the museum was and continues to be a rewarding commitment.

“Joining the Museum Board was a gateway event for me.  I now serve also on the Durham City-County Appearance Commission and the County Library’s Durham Reads Together planning committee.  I am learning, if you want to know your city, serve.”

Phillip Harris, Treasurer, Tax Research Analyst II, Avalara

Bob Ashley, Immediate Past Chair, Editor, Herald-Sun (retired)

Bob Ashley retired in June 2017 as editor of The Herald-Sun, where he oversaw news and editorial operations at the daily newspaper in Durham.

He returned to that post, from which he retired in January 2011, in June of 2012. In the interim, he was executive director of Preservation Durham, the non-profit historic preservation organization. Currently, he’s back in that post on a temporary basis as the organization searches for a permanent executive director.

He first joined The Herald-Sun as editor in January 2005. Before coming to the Herald-Sun, he was editor for nearly 11 years of the Messenger-Inquirer in Owensboro, Ky. He previously was editor of the Centre Daily Times in State College, Pa.

His journalism career started when he worked part-time for the weekly Mount Airy (N.C.) Times, in his hometown. After college, he began work as a reporter for The Raleigh Times, advanced to city editor, and then moved to The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer. There, his jobs included assistant metropolitan editor, deputy features editor, deputy metro editor, features editor and assistant managing editor. He left the Observer for the Centre Daily Times; both were Knight Ridder newspapers.

He is a 1970 graduate of Duke University with a B.A. in history, and was managing editor of the Duke Chronicle. He has served on a number of industry and community boards, including the N. C. Press Association, Preservation Durham, Durham’s Partnership for Children, the Volunteer Center of Durham, Pennsylvania Society of Newspaper Editors, the State College Symphony Orchestra, Healthy Horizons (in Owensboro), the Professional Advisory Committee for the Western Kentucky University Department of Journalism, and the Greater Owensboro Alliance for Education and Workforce Development.

He is an elder in the Presbyterian Church. His wife, the former Patricia Andrews, also a 1970 Duke graduate and Mount Airy native, recently retired as director of the Division of District and School Transformation for the N. C. Department of Public Instruction and now teaches part-time and does consulting work. They have one son, Andrew, a 2011 graduate of the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill and in a doctoral program in anthropology at New York University.

Nida Allam, Chair, Durham County Commission *County appointed non-voting liaison to MoDH board*

Dr. Jeffrey P. Baker, Director of the Trent Center for Bioethics, Humanities, & History of Medicine, Duke University School of Medicine

Jeffrey P. Baker M.D. Ph.D.  is director of the Trent Center for Bioethics, Humanities & History of Medicine in Duke University School of Medicine. A professor of Pediatrics and the Practice of History, he served for over 30 years as a general pediatrician in Duke Children’s Primary Care with a focus on children with autism and special needs. Dr. Baker also completed a Ph.D. in the history of medicine at Duke in 1992.  As the author of the book, The Machine in the Nursery: Incubator Technology and the Origins of Neonatal Intensive Care (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996), he is a leading authority on the history of neonatal medicine. Dr. Baker co-edited a 75th year anniversary history of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and has written numerous historical articles related to pediatrics, vaccination controversies, and autism. He directed the Academy’s Pediatric History Center from 2009 until 2018, and continues to serve as the pediatric history monthly feature editor for the journal Pediatrics. 

Most recently, Dr. Baker’s research interests have centered upon the history of racism in medical centers and their communities. He co-led an interdisciplinary Bass Connections project in 2018-19, Documenting Durham’s Health History: Understanding the Roots of Health Disparities.  He has spoken to many audiences on the importance of understanding Duke Health within the historical context of Durham and North Carolina, and introduces health professional students and trainees to their community via walks with local partners. 

As director of the Trent Center’s History of Medicine program since 2006, Dr Baker has taught history to undergraduates, residents, and medical students. He has held many other leadership positions at Duke, including directing the Duke autism clinic, the Duke Health Center at Southpoint, and the AB Duke Scholarship Program. In 2019, Dr Baker was awarded the Excellence in Professionalism Award by Duke School of Medicine.

Marjorie Yarbrough Burton, CPA, Community Volunteer

A Durham native, Marjorie Burton is a graduate of Charles E. Jordan High School and the Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC-Chapel Hill.  Upon earning her B.S. in Business Administration, Marjorie began a successful career as a Certified Public Accountant focusing on corporate auditing and income tax preparation. She is currently the financial counselor to several small businesses.

Marjorie is deeply committed to her community, having served and supported many organizations. She was born at Watts Hospital in Durham as the fourth of six children. She married her high school sweetheart, Dr. Claude Burton, a Dermatologist/Internist at Duke University Medical Center. Marjorie’s ties to Durham run through the generations. Each of Marjorie and Claude’s fathers established thriving businesses in the Durham area.

Ruth Dzau, Community Volunteer

Ruth Dzau spent decades in civic leadership in communities such as Boston and Palo Alto, where she lived before moving to Durham eleven years ago. She jumped right into Durham life as a volunteer with several nonprofits, including The Center for Child and Family Health, Triangle Community Foundation, Made in Durham, Durham Rotary, N.C. New Schools and the N.C. Symphony.  In December 2014, she received the Duke Energy Citizenship and Service Award for her civic and social activities.

Dzau believes that to be a good citizen, one must understand a community’s current needs as well as its history. She realized that a major aspect of Durham was missing a decade ago: a cohesive understanding of not only the events and trends of Durham’s history but also the individuals whose stories are an integral part of Durham’s evolution.  She considers the opportunity to serve on the Museum of Durham History board, at this pivotal time in its development, a gift.

Dzau and her husband Victor, who heads the National Academy of Medicine in Washington, D.C., enjoy spending time with family here and in her native Northeast. Traveling, history and art are her personal passions.

Robert Gofourth, Community Volunteer

Robert brings to the board 25 years of operations and risk management experience. From 2014-2021, he was VP of Operational Strategy and Performance at Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina where he led quality, compliance, informatics, process improvement and business readiness within the company’s operations.

Prior to joining BCBSNC, he led both the operations and, later, risk management functions for Citizens Property Insurance in Jacksonville, Fla. He has also lived abroad in Poland and the Netherlands.

A native Floridian, Robert earned his undergraduate degree in political science from the University of Florida and an MBA from Regis University in Denver, Colo. He earned his Six Sigma Black Belt in 1999.

Robert loves to travel, racking up 232 nights in hotels one year, and practice Vinyasa power flow yoga. His long-standing interest in history prompted him to drop by the Museum on a downtown walk soon after arriving in Durham, and he’s been hooked ever since.

Jane Goodridge, Community Volunteer 

She is a founding board member of the Museum of Durham History. Since moving to Durham in 1996, she has also served on the boards of Preservation Durham, Friends of the Durham Library and Threshold Inc. Presently, she is a Core Leader of the Friends of the Durham Library book sales. Previously, she served on the Board of Education in Farmington, CT for ten years. Also, in Farmington, she served as Chair of the Board of the Stanley-Whitman House, an 18th century house museum, and oversaw an extensive investigation and restoration of the house, working with some of the foremost experts in the field. In New Jersey, she served on the board of Rockingham, the site of George Washington’s final revolutionary War headquarters. Jane grew up in Pittsburgh, PA, where she attended The Ellis School. She graduated from the University of Rochester with a degree in history, although her first job was as a computer programmer. She also worked for two years for Population Resource Center, a non-profit in Princeton and Washington, DC which organized programs on demographics for policy makers.

Dr. Jim C. Harper, II, Chair and Professor, Department of History, North Carolina Central University

Driven by his desire to teach and inspire, Mount Olive, North Carolina native, Jim C. Harper, II, has spent over two decades sharing the knowledge needed to grow and succeed through lessons of the past. After his service in the United States Marine Corps, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree and Master of Arts degree from North Carolina Central University and Ph.D. from Howard University. He has been employed at North Carolina Central University for over 20 years and is the recipient of multiple teaching awards including the University of North Carolina System’s Board of Governors Excellence in Teaching Award. He was selected as the Colonel Charles Young Trailblazer Award recipient which recognizes distinguished individuals who have demonstrated outstanding service and commitment to the community, leadership, and youth. Currently he serves as Chair and Professor of History at North Carolina Central University.

Dr. Harper’s research interests include African American and African education and independence movements in the 20^th century. He has published one book, Western Educated Elites in Kenya, 1900-1963: The African American Factor and served as lead editor of Topics in the African Diaspora. He has published several peer-reviewed journal articles, and book chapters. He is currently working on a co-authored manuscript on the History of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. which will be published by the University of North Carolina Press in 2023. He has also completed several Public History community engaged research projects including a Durham Beginnings, Digital Mapping Project, and a Durham Memories Oral History Project.

Suzanne Jacobs, Innovation Manager, Blue Cross NC

Suzanne is not just a promoter of history. She is a creative problem solver who believes the recipe for success are tenacity and a belief we can move the needle to improve things. Partner with the right talent, and the mix is an unstoppable force. She thrives on learning and leaving things better than she found them, all while building relationships with the amazing people she’s encountered along the way. While not born in Durham, she got here as soon as she could and has been enjoying all Durham has to offer for more than 25 years. Durham quickly became home, and she is all in to preserve and promote the history of our great city. Connecting with the community is part of Suzanne’s DNA. She can’t wait to expand her circle as a member of the MoDH Board.

Mark-Anthony Middleton, Mayor Pro Tempore *City appointed non-voting liaison to MoDH board*

Ty Powers, Director of Asset Allocation, Investors Trust Company

“I’ve been a proud Durhamite since 2007 and very much appreciate the Museum’s efforts to preserve and showcase the deep history of Durham, especially with all the growth we’ve seen the past decade. I’m thrilled to be a part of the MoDH’s mission.” Ty has more than 25 years of investment experience and currently serves as Director of Asset Allocation at Investors Trust Company. Before that, he was a portfolio manager with the $120 billion North Carolina Department of State Treasurer’s retirement plan. Ty has also served as co-portfolio manager and director of research for Hatteras Funds, an alternative investment firm in Raleigh and senior equity analyst at Brightleaf Capital in Durham before that. Ty earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Washington & Lee University, an MBA with a concentration in investment management from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and has earned the designation of Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).

Eskinder Zewdu, Senior Product Manager, Relias