The Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation Welcomes New Board Members

December 1, 2023

(NEW YORK) — The Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation today announced the election of two new members to its board of directors: Andre M. Davis, a former judge of the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and former city solicitor of Baltimore, and Jacqueline Jones, former president and CEO of the Foundation for Child Development and former senior advisor to the US Secretary of Education. The Foundation also announced the retirement from the board of longtime member H. Kirk Unruh Jr.

“We are honored to welcome Judge Davis and Dr. Jones to our board of directors,” said Daniel F. Wilhelm, president of the Foundation. “Each brings a wealth of experience and wisdom to the board. Their deep engagement in issues of national importance and their commitment to research and science over many years will enhance our ability to better understand and address the violence that afflicts our world.”

Judge Davis’s judicial career spans more than three decades, including fourteen years as a US District Court judge for the District of Maryland and eight years on the Fourth Circuit Court. Prior to federal judicial service, he was a state trial judge, appellate attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the US Department of Justice, Assistant US Attorney in Baltimore, and law professor at the University of Maryland. Judge Davis serves on the advisory boards of the Center for Law, Brain & Behavior at Harvard Medical School and Roca Baltimore, a nationally recognized community violence prevention program. He is a board member of the Juvenile Law Center in Philadelphia and a trustee of the Walters Art Museum.

Judge Davis has received numerous awards, including the Benjamin Cardin Public Service Award from the University of Maryland’s Francis King Carey School of Law and the 2017 John Marshall Award from the American Bar Association. He holds a BA in American history from the University of Pennsylvania and a JD with honors from the University of Maryland School of Law.

“It is a singular honor to have been elected to the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation board,” Judge Davis said. “Throughout my career of many decades in public service, I have worked on myriad fronts to help communities grapple with the insidious effects of violence. My election to the board will further that deep engagement in a meaningful, forward-looking way; I appreciate the opportunity to continue to contribute to the important work of the Foundation, for which it is justly highly regarded.”

Dr. Jones led the New York–based Foundation for Child Development, which supports research, policy, and advocacy to advance the learning and development of young children, from 2014 to 2022. Previously, she served as senior advisor on early learning to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in the Obama Administration and as the country’s first deputy assistant secretary for policy and early learning in the US Department of Education. 

Prior to her federal service, Dr. Jones was assistant commissioner for the Division of Early Childhood Education in the New Jersey Department of Education. She worked as a senior research scientist at Educational Testing Service for more than fifteen years, focusing on the development and assessment of young children’s learning. She has been a visiting professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a full-time faculty member at the City University of New York. She has served on several national advisory boards, including the National Academies Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Dr. Jones earned her BA in speech pathology from Hunter College and a master’s degree and doctorate in communication science and disorders from Northwestern University. 

“At a time of widespread global uncertainty, supporting a research base to understand the underpinnings of violence is more important than ever,” Dr. Jones said. “I am delighted to join the Foundation’s board to help move this important mission forward.”

The Foundation also announced the retirement of H. Kirk Unruh Jr. following fifteen years of service on the board. Rear Admiral Unruh served in the US Navy and Navy Reserve at sea, commanding surface warfare augmentation units, and at the Navy Command Center in the Pentagon. He also was recording secretary of Princeton University, his alma mater, for nearly two decades following terms as the university’s regional admissions director and director of development relations, among other roles.

Mr. Wilhelm, HFG’s president, said, “We are grateful to Kirk Unruh for a decade and a half of dedicated and committed service to The Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation. Admiral Unruh brought an unflagging enthusiasm and support for the foundation’s work that was informed by his extensive experience at a leading research university and his decades of service in uniform. His sharp intellect and collegial manner will be missed by his colleagues on the board.”

The Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation is a leader in creating and disseminating knowledge on the nature, consequences, and reduction of violence in its many forms, including war, crime, and human aggression.

For more information, contact: 

Nyeleti Honwana, Program Officer

info@hfg.org | 646.428.0971