Darla Moore has been elected to the Santa Fe Institute’s Board of Trustees, with a three-year appointment beginning in May 2021. Moore is the Founder and Chair of the Palmetto Institute, a not-for-profit think tank that aims to raise per capita income in South Carolina. She is also the former Managing Director of Chemical Bank and the former President of Rainwater Inc., a private investment firm. She currently serves on the board of The Shed, a cultural institution that fosters innovation and creativity for a more equitable society.
With a long and storied career in business and finance, Moore has served on the boards of many organizations, including Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, the National Advisory Board of JP Morgan, New York University School of Medicine, and Teach for America. She was the first woman to land on the cover of Fortune and was named corporate America’s most feared female activist in the magazine’s first 50 Most Powerful Women ranking. In 2012, Moore shattered another glass ceiling as one of the first two female members, along with Condoleezza Rice, of the Augusta National Golf Club.
Moore is well known for her philanthropic work. In 1998 she made a $25 million donation to the business school at the University of South Carolina, which was subsequently renamed the Darla Moore School of Business — the first business school in the U.S. to be named after a woman. She has also given substantial financial gifts to Clemson University's school of education, USC's McNair Center for Aerospace Innovation and Research, and Claflin University's music department. Moore was awarded South Carolina's highest civilian honor, the Order of the Palmetto, in 1998 for her contributions to the state.
“Throughout my career, I’ve been committed to organizations that work to build a more equitable society,” Moore says. “Doing that requires the kind of deep understanding of systems — and how they work together — that only complexity science provides. I’m proud to be part of the Santa Fe Institute, where researchers are demystifying some of the world’s most pressing issues, including the causes and impacts of inequity, to uncover practical solutions.”