The Duke Endowment is pleased to announce the appointment of Robert R. Hill Jr. and John C. Yates to its Board of Trustees.
Hill, of Columbia, S.C., joined SouthState Corp., a financial services company serving the Carolinas, Georgia, Virginia, Alabama and Florida, in 1995. He served as president and COO from 1999 until 2004. He served as CEO from 2004 until 2020 when he became executive chairman. He retired in 2023.
Hill currently serves on the boards of The Citadel Foundation and Sonoco Products Co. He previously served on the boards of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and the University of South Carolina Development Foundation. He is a past chairman of the S.C. Bankers Association.
Hill has been honored with The Citadel School of Business’ Alvah H. Chapman, Jr., Distinguished Leadership Award and was recognized as a distinguished alumnus by The Citadel and the University of South Carolina’s Moore School of Business.
He graduated from The Citadel in Charleston in 1988 before earning an MBA at the University of South Carolina in 1995.
He and his wife, Carol, have two adult children.
“Having spent my life in North and South Carolina, I’ve witnessed firsthand how The Duke Endowment has transformed lives over the last century. It is an honor to now serve as a Trustee as we help shape the next 100 years of impact,” Hill said.
Yates, of Atlanta, Ga., is a co-founding partner of the Atlanta/Southeast office of the Gunderson Dettmer law firm. He is recognized as a pioneer of the technology law field, having practiced for more than 40 years. He has represented leading technology and tech-enabled companies, including work in venture capital, mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property and public offerings.
He serves on the Duke Law School Board of Visitors and is Trustee Emeritus with Furman University’s Board of Trustees. He also serves on the boards of the Woodruff Arts Center, YMCA of Metro Atlanta, CURE Childhood Cancer and the City of Atlanta’s AI Commission. His past board service includes the Rotary Club of Atlanta, The Carter Center, Seagull Software and Stonesoft Corp.
He was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Technology Association of Georgia in 2024 and the Ann Cramer Leadership Award from the Atlanta Business Chronicle in 2022.
Yates graduated magna cum laude from Duke University in 1978. He was a recipient of the Angier B. Duke Scholarship, one of two signature merit scholarship programs that the Endowment funds at Duke University. He received his Juris Doctor’s degree from Duke Law in 1981.
He and his wife, Ellen, have one adult son.
“The opportunities and education I received at Duke have had a profound impact on my life and career. Serving on the Board of The Duke Endowment is both an honor and a meaningful way to not only give back to the institution, but also to communities across the Carolinas that helped shape my journey,” Yates said.
“We are thrilled to welcome Robert and John to our Board,” said Charles C. Lucas III, chair of The Duke Endowment’s Board of Trustees. “They both bring a wealth of knowledge, extensive experience and strong ties to the Carolinas that we know will contribute tremendously to the work we are doing.”
Hill and Yates replace Ravenel B. Curry III and Harris DeLoach Jr., both of whom retired from The Duke Endowment’s Board after serving 17 years and 13 years, respectively.