In 1909 his fraternal grandfather Andrew\u00a0Duarte-Level left Venezuela for the states\u00a0where he married an English\/ Welsh\u00a0immigrant Blodwen Jones, and set out to\u00a0raise his fortune and family. His first job was\u00a0as a Singer Sewing Machine salesman. Later, after moving to New Jersey, he became the\u00a0mayor of East Orange in 1941.<\/p>\n
Andres\u2019 father, Andre Duarte Level II,\u00a0was born in 1913 with full US citizenship. He\u00a0worked in the Lincoln\u00a0Tunnel project as a \u201cground hog\u201d for nine months and\u00a0graduated from Cornell\u00a0University in 1936. When oil\u00a0was discovered in Venezuela\u00a0in 1928-29, he returned to a\u00a0country which, as a result of\u00a0his parentage, also\u00a0recognized him as a citizen.\u00a0At that point, the young\u00a0Duarte could not speak Spanish, having been raised and schooled in\u00a0the U.S. He soon began work in road\u00a0construction supporting the rapidly\u00a0expanding oil fields. Soon after WWII broke\u00a0out, he was drafted by the U.S. Navy. He\u00a0joined the Seabees to use his skills in road\u00a0building and construction and was sent to\u00a0build airports in Trinidad, Puerto Rico and\u00a0Brazil to support the U.S. air traffic\u00a0movements through South America and\u00a0Africa.<\/p>\n
On Andres\u2019 maternal side of the family,\u00a0strong U.S. ties were also much in evidence as\u00a0his grandfather Eliseo Vivas-Perez had left Venezuela for the U.S. in 1914 as a political\u00a0outcast having challenged the authority of a\u00a0dictator named Gomez. After the move to the U.S., Andre\u2019s mother and her five brothers\u00a0were all educated in colleges throughout the\u00a0U.S. while the parents moved to Philadelphia. They remained there until 1936 when, with\u00a0the fall of Gomez, the family returned to\u00a0Venezuela. Soon after returning to\u00a0Venezuela, Andre\u2019s parents-to-be attended a\u00a0social event at the U.S. Embassy where they\u00a0met for the first time and, as the saying goes,\u00a0the rest is history.<\/p>\n
Andres Duarte was born in 1943 in\u00a0Caracas and was educated in the local Jesuit\u00a0schools for 12 years. Upon graduation in\u00a01961, and with a significant family history of\u00a0education in the U.S., the die was cast for\u00a0Andres to follow the same path.<\/p>\n
OHIO WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY<\/strong><\/p>\n Initially Andres applied to both Cornell and\u00a0Northwestern, and was accepted by the\u00a0latter where his uncle was on the faculty at\u00a0the time. He visited his uncle who told him\u00a0about a small college in mid-Ohio (OWU)\u00a0where he had previously taught and\u00a0recommended it as more suitable for Andres\u00a0than Northwestern. He felt that OWU, with\u00a0its small campus and its excellent academic\u00a0program would better fit the culture and\u00a0school life to which Andres had been\u00a0accustomed. So with that advise, although\u00a0never having visited the OWU campus,\u00a0Andres applied and was accepted by OWU\u00a0at the last minute.<\/p>\n BETA MEMORIES<\/strong><\/p>\n Arriving at OWU (his first time to the\u00a0campus) to register for classes in August,\u00a01961, Andres moved into the \u201clow rent\u201d\u00a0district at the Selby Stadium dorms. Soon\u00a0thereafter, he was introduced to freshman\u00a0rush and was attracted to Beta through his\u00a0meetings with Clark Dove \u201963 \u2026 and Jim\u00a0Tennison \u201862. He later met other Beta\u00a0campus leaders \u2026 George Conrades \u201861\u00a0(who was visiting campus to see his future\u00a0bride, who was still attending OWU\u2026), and\u00a0who had been student body president and\u00a0Mel Trumble \u201862, class president and member of the football team. These\u00a0outstanding Betas were among the most \u00a0important influences attracting Andres to\u00a0Beta Theta Pi.<\/p>\n Although Andres was supported for\u00a0membership by brothers Dove, Tennison,\u00a0Conrades and Trumble, controversy stirred\u00a0within the house as a result of the prejudices\u00a0which existed at that time. The controversy\u00a0over the pledging of a foreign student was\u00a0quite heated and divisive. Alumni were\u00a0asked for their advice. Brothers Dove,\u00a0Tennison, Conrades and Trumble were\u00a0adamant in their support of Andres, and\u00a0were soon joined in support by Hal\u00a0Fausnaugh \u201948 and Jim Wyant \u201950, from the\u00a0alumni ranks. Ultimately, through the advocacy of these brothers, Andres was\u00a0pledged Beta. [Note: This was not the first\u00a0time for such a controversy at Theta chapter. The editor remembers well a similar incident\u00a0in the mid \u201950s\u2026..one which ended with the\u00a0student being denied membership, to the deep dismay of many of the brothers.<\/p>\n Pledging memories for Andres include\u00a0his being awarded \u201cthe cow bell\u2019 \u2026 an honor\u00a0bestowed on the one pledge identified as the \u201cmost outstanding goof off.\u201d It was passed\u00a0down to Andres from the previous recipient,\u00a0John Duvall \u201864. Whenever and wherever the bell rang, the wearer was required to\u00a0recite from memory passages from \u201cFor\u00a0Whom the Bell Tolls.\u201d<\/p>\n After being driven to pulling his hair out\u00a0from the \u201cringing bell,\u201d Andres was clued in\u00a0by brother Bruce Jarvis \u201860 to \u201cput some\u00a0paper in the bell and don\u2019t worry about it\u00a0any more.\u201d Upper classmen always had\u00a0ways of solving freshmen problems! The\u00a0following year, Andres passed along this\u00a0unique tradition by awarding the bell to\u00a0\u201cRip\u201d van Winkle \u201966.<\/p>\n OWU<\/strong><\/p>\n Andres noted several key memories of\u00a0his days at OWU. First, the campus\u00a0curiosity toward foreign students; Second,\u00a0the \u201cteamwork\u201d displayed in both the classroom and the fraternity house; Third, the\u00a0immaturity of students in using alcohol. In\u00a0contrast, in Venezuela you grew up exposed\u00a0to it and learned to cope with it in\u00a0moderation, with wine served at home. But\u00a0for the American students, it was altogether\u00a0new and cause for \u201ctrying out\u201d new limits in\u00a0acts of immaturity. Fourth, it was the first\u00a0time Andres could date anyone of his own\u00a0choosing, and not have a chaperone \u2014\u00a0either a sister or a mother \u2014!<\/p>\n Following graduation from OWU in\u00a01965 having majored in Geology\/Economics,\u00a0Andres continued his education with an MS\u00a0in Geology from the University of\u00a0Oklahoma in 1967 and an MBA from both\u00a0Northwestern (where he started) and IESA\u00a0in Venezuela (where he finished) in 1969.\u00a0While in Chicago in 1968, Andres had a\u00a0memorable and forgettable experience\u00a0during the McGovern political convention\u00a0riots. A fire resulting from the riots forced\u00a0him to make an emergency escape from his\u00a0apartment which was located above a liquor\u00a0store \u2014 a lucky escape! Also at that time, he\u00a0again ran into George Conrades, in the\u00a0streets of Chicago, and renewed old ties.<\/p>\n \u00a0CAREER<\/strong><\/p>\n Returning to Venezuela in 1969, Andres\u00a0began his career working for the government for one year in oil\/gas production. This\u00a0was followed by seven years working for a\u00a0conglomerate in construction work.<\/p>\n By 1975, he started his own consulting\u00a0business which later evolved into equity\u00a0interest in various ventures in commodity\u00a0trading, transportation and port development in Venezuela.<\/p>\n In September 1992 Brother Duarte was\u00a0offered the C.E.O. position of Linea\u00a0Aeropsostal Venezolana, a government\u00a0operated airline, with the\u00a0mandate to privatize the\u00a0airline. At the time the\u00a0national airline was losing\u00a0$25 million \/ year. During\u00a0his struggle to make the airline profitable, Andres\u00a0became \u201cpersona non\u00a0grata\u201d as he had to make\u00a0drastic changes to the\u00a0company, including selling\u00a0aircraft, eliminating 180\u00a0pilots and downsizing the\u00a0airline, that only had 19\u00a0planes, but over 4000 employees. These\u00a0changes caused major trauma throughout\u00a0Venezuela. As a result of his implementation\u00a0of necessary operational efficiency changes,\u00a0Andres became the scorn of many and the\u00a0center of attention in what was considered a\u00a0national scandal. The airline was the first\u00a0state-owned institution that was being\u00a0\u201cprivatized.\u201d Following the changes\u00a0instituted by Andres, the government\u00a0divested itself of the airline which was bought by Cuban nationals residing in\u00a0Miami \u2026 and by 2000 had the company\u00a0flying again under private ownership.\u00a0Unfortunately for Andy, it was two hard\u00a0years of traumas and difficulties \u2026 but he\u00a0did that as a service to the country.<\/p>\n Following this period with the\u00a0government, Brother Duarte returned to the\u00a0active management of his own company,\u00a0Duarte Vivas & Associados C.A. (DVA). Its\u00a0initial activities included the operation of\u00a0companies related to the petroleum sector as\u00a0well as consulting for engineering firms and\u00a0commodity trading companies. Products\u00a0include oil, agriculture, chemical and\u00a0metallurgical products.<\/p>\n DVA began expanding into shipping\u00a0and related services, with the establishment\u00a0of two shipping companies, and a \u00a0customs, stevedoring and and ship agency\u00a0business. DVA consolidated its presence in\u00a0this area with the purchase of the Victor H. Selinger shipping agency in 1992.<\/p>\n DVA employs over 30 people for its\u00a0trading\/commodity activities and is currently\u00a0the largest independent company in Brother Duarte notes that these have\u00a0been difficult times for Venezuela. Through\u00a0government mismanagement the standard of\u00a0living is poor and little improvement has\u00a0been seen by the majority of its citizens.\u00a0More than 20 percent unemployment with\u00a01.3M in public employment with only a\u00a0population of about 10M is an\u00a0unacceptable cost to the country.\u00a0Religious leaders have been indifferent to social change and in politics there\u00a0are \u201ctoo many chiefs and not enough\u00a0indians.\u201d Profits from oil, in the past,\u00a0have masked solutions in others aspects\u00a0of Venezuelan economic and social\u00a0structure \u2026 i.e., education, agriculture\u00a0and the general standard of living. He notes that there exists a need for\u00a0strong, enlightened political leadership\u00a0dedicated to the efficient management\u00a0of his country and its resources.<\/p>\n COMMUNITY SERVICE<\/strong><\/p>\n Brother Duarte has always played an\u00a0active role in his communities. He has served\u00a0on various boards including the Chamber of Commerce Federation of Venezuela,\u00a0Petroleum Chamber of Venezuela, American\u00a0C of C. He also has served as an outside director of Banco Venezolano de Credito\u00a0and as V.P. of the British School of Caracas.\u00a0Since 1995 he has served Ohio Wesleyan University as a member of its Board of\u00a0Trustees.<\/p>\n Andres and his wife, Laura Otero de\u00a0Duarte, have three children: an 11-year-old\u00a0daughter, Camilla, who attends the British\u00a0School in Caracas, and young Andy, 12-years-old, who attends Gordonstoun school\u00a0in Scotland. Daughter Emily, 16, is a high\u00a0school senior studying at the St. Paul Prep\u00a0School in Concord, N.H. Hopefully, she will\u00a0soon be ready to move on to Delaware and\u00a0OWU.<\/p>\n Laura, also raised in Venezuela, is a\u00a0freelance costume designer and has\u00a0contributed professionally to many art\u00a0organizations, including the Caracas Opera,\u00a0Venezuelan TV stations and the Pittsburgh\u00a0Opera.<\/p>\n Andres\u2019 permanent home address is: DUARTE REFLECTIONS<\/strong><\/p>\n Looking back, Andres noted with some\u00a0concern what he considers weakness shown\u00a0in recent history at Beta and the Greek\u00a0system. He senses that the priority for\u00a0students is more of \u201cindividualism\u201d rather\u00a0than deferring to the needs and\u00a0accomplishments of their groups. Beta\u00a0always had strong, intelligent brothers, but\u00a0when the concern for individual achievement\u00a0and activities became more prevalent, then\u00a0the strength of the Greek system was\u00a0compromised. Fondly reflecting on his own\u00a0experiences in Beta, he expressed genuine\u00a0concern that we continue to support the\u00a0young men of Theta chapter and encourage\u00a0their return of the values of brotherhood SALUDOS<\/strong>
\nVenezuela in its specialty. Total employment\u00a0is over 150 and as recently as 1999, thirdparty sales and purchases exceeded $200M. DVA subsidiaries, joint ventures and\u00a0affiliated companies number more than 11.<\/p>\n
\nAndres Duarte<\/strong>
\nDuate Vivas & Associates, C.A.<\/strong>
\nAv. Ppal del Bosque, Torre Credicard,<\/strong>
\nPiso 15, Ofc. 154, Chacaito<\/strong>
\naduarte@dvaccs.com
\nhttp:\/\/www.dvaccs.com
\nHis USA mailing address is:
\nAndres Duarte<\/strong>
\nJet International M 472<\/strong>
\nP.O. Box 20010<\/strong>
\nMiami, FL 33102-0010<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nwithin Beta.<\/p>\n
\nAndres Duarte represents the best of Beta. He has\u00a0generously given of himself to both his University\u00a0and to his fraternity. We salute him and are proud\u00a0to say to Andres Duarte \u2026 thank God you\u2019re a\u00a0Beta!<\/p>\n
![\"Andres](\"http:\/\/thetachapterbtp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2001\/02\/Andres-Duarte.jpg\")
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