Thomas L. Perkins image
Thomas L. Perkins image

Thomas L. Perkins

  • Trustee, 1948–1973
  • Chair, 1960–1973
  • Vice-Chair, 1960–1960

The son of William Perkins, James B. Duke’s legal counsel and author of the Endowment’s Indenture, Thomas Perkins followed in his father’s footsteps as an attorney, building a successful practice in New York. Both father and son were strong supporters of Duke Medical Center. Mr. Perkins joined the Endowment board in 1948, and served as chair from 1960-73. He served as a Duke University trustee and also chaired the board of Duke Power Company. “As it was with the father, so it was with the son,” reads a 1973 resolution adopted by the Trustees in Perkins’ honor. “Their conscientious concern for the institutions and programs assisted by the Endowment will have a long and salubrious effect upon the education, health, child care and religious life of the South.”

“Their conscientious concern for the institutions and programs assisted by the Endowment will have a long and salubrious effect upon the education, health, child care and religious life of the South.”

Resolution, The Duke Endowment Endowment, 1973