Two New Members Join the Pope Center Board of Directors

Robert L. Shibley and Garland S. Tucker, III have joined the John W. Pope Center for Higher Education Policy board of directors. Pope Center president Jenna A. Robinson said, “We’re excited to add new members with such expertise and passion to our board.”

Shibley is the executive director of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). He came to North Carolina as a Duke University undergraduate student. At Duke, he served as the managing editor of the Duke Review newspaper, which was banned by Duke administrators from using the publication distribution bins on campus. Administrative censorship and bias led him after law school to a career at FIRE, defending the rights of college and university students and faculty members.

“Robert’s work with FIRE has been invaluable for students and for North Carolina,” said Robinson. More about his efforts to protect free speech on campus in North Carolina can be read on the Pope Center’s website.

Tucker is the chairman and CEO of Triangle Capital Corporation. He also co-founded Triangle Capital Corporation’s predecessor companies, Triangle Capital Partners, LLC and Triangle Mezzanine Fund LLLP in 2002 and 2003, respectively. Tucker has previously worked as an executive in the corporate travel services industry and corporate finance. In addition, he serves on several of private company and nonprofit boards, including Trinity School for Ministry, the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation, and the Civitas Insitute.

Tucker has also authored two books on the role of conservative leadership in the United States. Robinson added, “Garland Tucker’s writing on the history of conservative figures is excellent.”

On the Pope Center board of directors, Shibley and Tucker join Arch T. Allen, a retired attorney and former member of UNC-CH board of trustees; J. Edgar Broyhill, III, president, Broyhill Family Group; Congresswoman Virginia Foxx, U.S. House of Representatives; John M. Hood, president, John William Pope Foundation; Joseph L. Lindsley, Sr., investment advisor, Quantitative Process, LLC; James G. Martin, former governor of North Carolina; David W. Riggs, vice president of philanthropic strategy, the Philanthropy Roundtable; and Jane S. Shaw, former president of the Pope Center.

The John W. Pope Center for Higher Education Policy, based in Raleigh and founded in 2003, is a nonprofit institute dedicated to improving higher education.