How did Richard Brodhead become President Brodhead?

This morning was my first opportunity to chat with Richard Brodhead (President of Duke University) when we ran into each other at the StudentU breakfast.  We only had a few minutes together, but I came away with a feeling that this man cares deeply about students and that he has learned how to handle people.

As the President of Duke you deal with 14,000 students, 3,000 professors, 8,000 staff, and many more thousands of alumni who donate generously to make the university work.  Despite all those, he quickly asked me a very specific question about one InCube student, Fabio Berger, who took a year off to pursue a startup.  Here's our exchange:

• President Brodhead:  Did that guy Fabio ever come back (to Duke)?  
• Me:  Yes, he did.  
• President Brodhead:  I didn't think he would (smiling).  
• Me:  It's great, because he is now the grey haired guy that students go to for advice on their startups.

This exchange resonated since I am reading How to Win Friends and Influence People and one of the chapter focuses on remembering names.  Obviously President Brodhead has excelled in the academic world but most would agree that his success (and ours) comes from the ability to work with people.