Noted philanthropist and Duke family descendent Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans died Wednesday at the age of 91.
She worked throughout her life to promote health care, social justice and the arts in Duke, Durham and North Carolina.
Semans is the granddaughter of Benjamin Newton Duke and the great-granddaughter of Washington Duke, the leaders of the American Tobacco Company and Duke Power Company, who became the principal benefactors of Trinity College, which took the name of Duke University in 1924. Semans stepped into her predecessors’ philanthropic roles, becoming a trustee of the Duke Endowment in 1957. She was the board’s first female chairman in 1982-2001. She also served on the board of the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, a group founded by her mother to support the arts, education and charity efforts in North Carolina and New York City.
She also served on Duke’s Board of Trustees for 20 years and spearheaded the creation of the Duke University Museum of Art, now known as the Nasher Museum of Art.
Semans also helped found the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, the first state-backed arts conservatory in the nation. She also entered public service in 1951 as the first woman elected to the Durham City Council and served as mayor pro-tem 1952-1955. She contributed to numerous other causes and organizations and received high honors from Duke and the state of North Carolina and others.
A funeral service will be held Monday at 2 p.m. at Duke Chapel. Noted philanthropist and Duke family descendent Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans died Wednesday at the age of 91.
She worked throughout her life to promote health care, social justice and the arts in Duke, Durham and North Carolina.
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