L. Neil Williams, Jr. image
L. Neil Williams, Jr. image

L. Neil Williams, Jr.

  • Trustee, 1997–2012
  • Chair, 2011–2012
  • Vice-Chair, 2008–2010

A native of Charlotte, L. Neil Williams spent his career at the law firm of Alston & Bird in Atlanta, where he was an expert in legal ethics and mergers and acquisitions. He was credited with building the firm from an important Atlanta firm into regional and then national prominence. Devoted to music, he sang in the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus and served on the boards of the Woodruff Arts Center, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the Brevard Music Center. He served as Chairman of the Endowment’s Board of Trustees from 2011-2012. He felt great loyalty to his alma mater, Duke University, and worked enthusiastically on its behalf. He was Chairman of the Duke University Board of Trustees for five years and received the university’s Distinguished Alumni Award and the Charles S. Rhyne Award from Duke School of Law. Upon his death from a heart attack in 2012, Gene Cochrane, then the Endowment’s President, said in a statement to the press: “We benefited from his keen wisdom, sound judgment and honorable leadership, and he will surely be missed.”

“We benefited from his keen wisdom, sound judgment and honorable leadership, and he will surely be missed.”

Gene Cochrane