Stanford’s Knight-Hennessy Scholars

For more than two decades, David Colin Burke has held leadership positions at various companies, such as the Investment Fund for Foundations and Stanford Management Company. At present, he leads Selby Lane, LLC, as CEO and chairman. In addition, David Colin Burke serves on the board of several academic and philanthropic organizations and has taught students in the Knight-Hennessy Scholars program at Stanford University.

The Knight-Hennessy Scholars program cultivates emerging leaders from around the world and allows them to innovate, communicate, and collaborate to address societal challenges. This program draws in talent and consists of scholars from various disciplines and backgrounds to make a large-scale positive impact on the world. These individuals display independent spirits and sharp thinking capabilities. They are also ambitious and civic-minded, so they tirelessly pursue their goal for humanity.

Scholars are only eligible for the Knight-Hennessy Scholars program if they pursue a graduate degree or a joint- or dual-graduate degree at Stanford University. While priority is given to applicants who have studied at the institution for at least two years, those who have been there for one year can successfully be part of the Knight-Hennessy Scholars cohort. The program is designed to complement scholars’ other academic work and focused on helping them expand their knowledge and develop the skills they need for leadership in the future.

 

UVA Law’s $19.87 Million Annual Giving

David Colin Burke currently serves as chairman and CEO of financial services and advisory firm Selby Lane, LLC, and managing director of Tuolumne Capital, LP. A proud “Triple Hoo,” he earned three successive degrees at the University of Virginia, culminating with his juris doctor. Today, David Colin Burke continues his long association with the school. He teaches World of Investing and International Relations classes, sponsors the International Human Rights Clinic, and sits on the board of trustees of the UVA Law School Foundation.

In addressing the public through UVA Law School’s 2019-20 annual report, Dean of UVA Law Risa L. Goluboff noted the numerous obstacles the school and its faculty and students have faced during 2020. Yet, donors contributed a total of $19.87 million to UVA Law’s annual giving campaign, the third-highest annual contribution in the school’s history.

Founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819, UVA Law School remains the country’s second-oldest law school in continuous operation. The 2019-20 annual campaign gifts came from a variety of sources, including foundations, corporations, law firms, and more than 8,000 alumni. UVA and its law school see this dedication during a year of unprecedented challenges, turbulence, and historic change as further testament to the strength of its program and ability to continue to foster positive changes going forward.

Over the past year, UVA Law School has restructured its classrooms to accommodate online study and teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic, extended practical financial assistance to students undergoing hardships, initiated a student volunteer program designed to help its local community members cope with the complex process of filing CARES Act unemployment claims, and much more. 

Poland and Turkey’s Support for Democracy

Investment executive and entrepreneur David Colin Burke leads Selby Lane, LLC, as chairman and chief executive officer and Tuolumne Capital, LP, as managing director. Also a noted philanthropist, David Colin Burke contributes to the work of organizations dedicated to education, civic engagement, and good governance, including the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

In January 2021 the Carnegie Endowment issued a report on political conditions in two key nations experiencing rising tides of illiberal populism and struggles with authoritarianism: Poland and Turkey.

As the Carnegie analysis shows, both nations over recent decades have inspired hope in their potential not only to govern as increasingly influential democracies but to provide positive influences on emerging democracies elsewhere in the world. But each has experienced significant “slippage” in its commitment to principles of civil society, human rights, and the rule-of-law practices essential to the functioning of healthy democracies.

The report looked at how the turn toward illiberalism in both countries has affected their support for other democracies in their regions. It found that though the countries offered continued support for neighboring democratic countries, they continued to tilt toward authoritarianism themselves. Further, this democratic support is embedded in the countries’ ongoing foreign policy commitments and regional alliances, and is therefore more likely to be performative than an expression of genuine commitment to democracy.

This wasn’t always the case. Turkey, a republic since 1923, was long a beacon of democracy and influence throughout the Middle East, and was formerly on track to gain membership in the European Union. Meanwhile, Poland emerged from the democratic revolutions of 1989 with a government and a population scarred by the repressions of the Soviet system, and has often lent substantial support to democratic movements in Central and Eastern Europe, most recently in Ukraine and Belarus.