History of Duke University
Encyclopedia
The history of Duke University began when Brown's Schoolhouse, a private subscription school in Randolph County, North Carolina
(in the present-day town of Trinity
), was founded in 1838. The school was renamed to Union Institute Academy in 1841, Normal College in 1851, and to Trinity College in 1859. Finally moving to Durham in 1887, the school grew rapidly, primarily due to the generosity of Washington Duke
and Julian S. Carr
, powerful and respected Methodists who had grown wealthy through the tobacco
industry. In 1924, Washington Duke's son, James B. Duke
, established The Duke Endowment
, a $40 million (about $430 million in 2005 dollars
) trust fund, some of which was to go to Trinity College. The president thus renamed the school Duke University
, as a memorial to Washington Duke
and his family.
and Quakers
under the leadership of Reverend Brantley York, and in 1841, North Carolina issued a charter for Union Institute Academy from the original Brown's Schoolhouse. The state legislature granted a rechartering of the academy as Normal College in 1851, and the privilege of granting degrees in 1853. To keep the school operating, the trustees agreed to provide free education for Methodist preachers in return for financial support by the church, and in 1859 the transformation was formalized with a name change to Trinity College and the adoption of the motto "Eruditio et Religio," meaning "Knowledge and Religion."
This era was a time of important firsts. In 1871, Chi Phi
was organized as the school's first student social organization. In 1878, Mary, Persis, and Theresa Giles became the first women to be awarded degrees. At that time, women were allowed only as day students. In 1881, Yao-ju "Charlie" Soong
from Weichau, China
, enrolled, becoming the school's first international student.
-educated economist
John Franklin Crowell became President of Trinity College. Committed to the German university model which emphasized research over recitation, Crowell directed a major revision in the curriculum and convinced the trustees to move to a more urban location. In 1892, Trinity opened in Durham, largely due to the generosity of Washington Duke
and Julian S. Carr
, powerful and respected Methodists who had grown prosperous through the tobacco
industry (see American Tobacco Company
and Duke Power). Carr donated the site, which today is Duke's East Campus, while Washington Duke contributed $100,000 for the endowment and construction of a female dormitory named after his daughter Mary, with the stipulation of placing women on an "equal footing with men".
John C. Kilgo became president in 1894 and greatly increased the interest of the Duke family in Trinity. Washington Duke offered three gifts of $100,000 (about $2,200,000 in 2005 dollars
) each for endowment. Trinity was the first white institution of higher education in the South to invite Booker T. Washington
to speak (in 1900). That same year, the first Native American
student graduated from Trinity.
In 1903, a controversy arose that would eventually lead to a significant event in the evolution of academic freedom in U.S. higher education. This series of events is known as the "Bassett Affair." Popular professor John Spencer Bassett
published an article in the South Atlantic Quarterly entitled "Stirring Up the Fires of Race Antipathy" in October of 1903. In the article, he spoke about improving race relations and gave praise to numerous African American
s. Near the end of the article, he wrote "...Booker T. Washington
[is] the greatest man, save General Lee, born in the South in a hundred years..." This led to an outpouring of anger from powerful Democratic party leaders as well as the media and public. Many demanded that Bassett be fired and encouraged parents to take their children out of the university. Resulting from immense public pressure, Bassett offered his resignation if the Board of Trustees requested that he do so. The Board of Trustees then held a meeting to decide the fate of Bassett. In the end, they voted 18-7 not to accept the resignation citing academic freedom. In their decision, they wrote, "We are particularly unwilling to lend ourselves to any tendency to destroy or limit academic liberty, a tendency which has, within recent years, manifested itself in some conspicuous instances, and which has created a feeling of uneasiness for the welfare of American colleges [...] We cannot lend countenance to the degrading notion that professors in American colleges have not an equal liberty of thought and speech with all other Americans." In 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt
commended Trinity and Bassett's courageous stand for academic freedom
while speaking to the university. He told the school, "You stand for Academic Freedom, for the right of private judgment, for a duty more incumbent upon the scholar than upon any other man, to tell the truth as he sees it, to claim for himself and to give to others the largest liberty in seeking after the truth."
The mascot for Duke's athletic teams, the Blue Devil
, has an interesting history. As World War I
ended, Duke's Board of Trustees, then called the "Trinity College Board of Trustees," lifted their quarter century ban of football
on campus leading to an interest in naming the athletic teams. The team was then known as the Trinity Eleven, the Blue and White, or the Methodists (as opposed to the Baptists of nearby rival Wake Forest University
). Because of the ambiguity, the student newspaper, the Trinity Chronicle (now called The Chronicle
) launched a campaign to create a new mascot. Nominations for a new team name included Catamounts, Grizzlies
, Badger
s, Dreadnaughts, and Captains
. The Trinity Chronicle editor narrowed the many nominations down to those that utilized the school colors of dark blue and white. The narrowed list consisted of Blue Titan
s, Blue Eagle
s, Polar Bear
s, Blue Devils, Royal Blazes, and Blue Warrior
s. None of the nominations proved to be a clear favorite, but the name Blue Devils elicited criticism that could potentially engender opposition on campus. That year, the football season passed with no official selection.
During the 1922-1923 academic year, campus student leaders and the editors of the two other student publications, The Archive and The Chanticleer, decided that the newspaper staff should decide the name on their own because the nomination process had proved inconclusive. Editor-in-Chief William H. Lander and Managing Editor Mike Bradshaw began referring to the athletic teams as the Blue Devils. Though the name was not officially used that year, no opposition to the name arose (surprising many). The Chronicles staff continued to use the name and eventually, “Blue Devils” caught on.
On December 11, 1924, James B. Duke
established The Duke Endowment
, a $40 million (about $430 million in 2005 dollars
) trust fund, the annual income of which was to be distributed in the Carolinas among hospitals, orphanages, the Methodist Church, three colleges, and a university built around Trinity College. President William Preston Few insisted that the university be named Duke University, and James B. Duke agreed on the condition that it be a memorial to his father and family.
The university grew up quickly. Duke's original campus (now East Campus) was rebuilt from 1925 to 1927 with Georgian-style buildings. The School of Religion and Graduate School
opened in 1926. By 1930, the majority of the Gothic style buildings on the campus one mile (1.6 km) west were completed in order to accommodate the Undergraduate Trinity College for men as well as the professional schools. The Women's College on East Campus opened in 1930, at the same time as the men's Trinity College, the Medical School
, and the Hospital opened on West Campus. The Law School
, founded in 1904, was reorganized in 1930. The School of Nursing
was founded in 1931, and the construction of Duke Chapel
was complete in 1935. In 1938, the School of Forestry (later becoming the School of the Environment
opened. That same year, Duke’s football team, deemed the “Iron Dukes,” went unscored upon the entire regular season, finally giving up a touchdown to USC
in the final minute of the 1938 Rose Bowl
loss. Shortly thereafter, Duke University became the thirty-fourth member of the Association of American Universities
.
Engineering
, which had been taught since 1903, became a separate school in 1939. In athletics, Duke hosted and competed in the only Rose Bowl game ever played outside of California in Wallace Wade Stadium
in 1942. Up until 1963, Duke University was a whites-only school, in both students and faculty. Increased activism on campus during the 1960s sparked Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to speak to the university on the civil rights movement’s progress on November 14, 1964. The overflow audience in Page Auditorium necessitated that organizers put the speech on loudspeakers to an outside crowd.
The former governor
of North Carolina
, Terry Sanford
, was elected president in 1969, propelling the Fuqua School of Business
’s opening. Additionally, the William R. Perkins library completion in 1969 doubled the library’s services and increased the collection’s total space by five hundred percent. In 1971, the Institute of Policy Sciences and Public Affairs was founded. The separate Woman's College merged back with Trinity as the liberal arts college for both men and women in 1972 and the Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture opened in 1974. Duke University Hospital, containing units for medicine, surgery, pediatrics, and obstetrics/gynecology, was finished in 1980. The Bryan University Center, a student union of sorts, was fully constructed two years later. Duke’s first NCAA championship was captured by the men's soccer team in 1986. This was followed by the men’s basketball team championships in 1991, 1992, and 2001.
Duke University’s growth and academic focus have dramatically increased the university’s reputation as an academic and research institution in recent years. In 1993, Duke’s three-member team finished in first place in the prestigious William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition
, earning the title of the best collegiate undergraduate math
team in the United States
and Canada
. Duke would repeat as champions again in 1996 and 2000. In nine out of the past ten years, Duke’s team has finished in the top three, the only school besides Harvard
to do so. Since 1992, five Duke students have been named Putnam Fellows.
Construction continued on campus, with the 314000 square feet (29,171.6 m²) Levine Science Research Center
(LSRC) opening in 1994 to house interdisciplinary research. Later that year, the Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy relocated to a new building and new dorms opened on East Campus. In 1995, Peter M. Nicholas (’64), donated $20 million to the School of the Environment
, which originated from the School of Forestry and the Duke Marine Lab. Also, James B. Duke’s daughter, Doris Duke
, gave the university $10 million for research.
The next year, recreational facilities received a major facelift, with the Keith and Brenda Brodie Recreational Center opening on East Campus, and a major overhaul of Wilson Recreation Center on West Campus in the works. Also in 1996, Robert Coleman
(Ph.D. '65) won the Nobel Prize in Physics
.
In 1998, Duke President Nan Keohane initiated a five-year $1.5 billion Campaign for Duke fundraising effort. Former President George H. W. Bush
delivered the commencement address, following Jimmy Carter
’s lead the year before. Edmund T. Pratt, Jr.
('47) endowed the Pratt School of Engineering with a $35 million gift in 1999. A year later, major plans for an overhaul of the residence life structure were approved. In the 2000s, campus growth has shown no signs of slowing down (see Construction projects at Duke University). The Campaign for Duke ended in 2003 with $2.36 billion raised, making it the fifth largest campaign in the history of American higher education.
In the 2004 fiscal year, research expenditures surpassed $490 million, leading to a myriad of important breakthroughs. The Duke Global Health Research Building, one of four laboratories in the U.S. attempting to "develop new vaccines, drugs, and tests to fight infectious diseases for a Duke-led consortium of universities," broke ground. Also undergoing construction was the Duke Smart House, a 4500 square feet (418.1 m²) research center in which undergraduates explore resource-efficient design.
In 2005, three students were named Rhodes Scholars
, making Duke the institution tied for the second most recipients. In Duke history, forty students have been honored with this scholarship. More recent research includes a blueprint for an invisibility
cloak using "metamaterials" and Duke researchers’ involvement in mapping the final human chromosome
, which made world news as the Human Genome Project
was finally complete.
The Duke campus presently features 17 projects which are LEED-certified, and all future campus buildings will be required to meet this same certification standard. A plan to redesign a 200 acre (0.809372 km²) area of the central campus, which will integrate sustainable practices at all levels of its construction, is also currently under development.
As a result of its campus wide efforts at sustainability, Duke University received a B+ grade from the Sustainable Endowments Institute’s College Sustainability Report Card 2008.
Randolph County, North Carolina
-Notable people:*Naomi Wise, murder victim*Richard Petty - Nascar driver.*Lee Petty - Nascar pioneer. Richard Petty's father.*Kyle Petty - Nascar driver. Son of Richard Petty*Adam Petty - Nascar driver. Kyle Petty's son...
(in the present-day town of Trinity
Trinity, North Carolina
Trinity is a city in Randolph County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 6,690 at the 2000 census.-History:The community was named after Trinity College, which later became Duke University. The "World's Longest Hot Wheels Track" was built at the Kyle Petty Farm in Trinity, North...
), was founded in 1838. The school was renamed to Union Institute Academy in 1841, Normal College in 1851, and to Trinity College in 1859. Finally moving to Durham in 1887, the school grew rapidly, primarily due to the generosity of Washington Duke
Washington Duke
George Washington Duke was an American tobacco industrialist and philanthropist.-Biography:Duke was born in Orange County, North Carolina , to Taylor Duke and Dicey Jones...
and Julian S. Carr
Julian Carr (industrialist)
Julian Shakespeare Carr was a North Carolina industrialist and philanthropist. He was married to Nannie Carr, with whom he had two daughters and three sons....
, powerful and respected Methodists who had grown wealthy through the tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
industry. In 1924, Washington Duke's son, James B. Duke
James Buchanan Duke
James Buchanan Duke was a U.S. tobacco and electric power industrialist best known for his involvement with Duke University.-Personal life:...
, established The Duke Endowment
The Duke Endowment
The Duke Endowment is a private foundation established in 1924 by industrialist and philanthropist James B. Duke. The mission of the foundation is to serve the people of North Carolina and South Carolina by supporting selected programs of higher education, health care, children's welfare, and...
, a $40 million (about $430 million in 2005 dollars
Inflation
In economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation also reflects an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a...
) trust fund, some of which was to go to Trinity College. The president thus renamed the school Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
, as a memorial to Washington Duke
Washington Duke
George Washington Duke was an American tobacco industrialist and philanthropist.-Biography:Duke was born in Orange County, North Carolina , to Taylor Duke and Dicey Jones...
and his family.
Beginnings: 1841-1886
The school was organized by the Union Institute Society, a group of MethodistsMethodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
and Quakers
Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
under the leadership of Reverend Brantley York, and in 1841, North Carolina issued a charter for Union Institute Academy from the original Brown's Schoolhouse. The state legislature granted a rechartering of the academy as Normal College in 1851, and the privilege of granting degrees in 1853. To keep the school operating, the trustees agreed to provide free education for Methodist preachers in return for financial support by the church, and in 1859 the transformation was formalized with a name change to Trinity College and the adoption of the motto "Eruditio et Religio," meaning "Knowledge and Religion."
This era was a time of important firsts. In 1871, Chi Phi
Chi Phi
The Chi Phi ' Fraternity is an American College Social Fraternity that was established as the result of the merger of three separate organizations that were each known as Chi Phi. The oldest active organization that took part in the union was originally founded in 1824 at Princeton...
was organized as the school's first student social organization. In 1878, Mary, Persis, and Theresa Giles became the first women to be awarded degrees. At that time, women were allowed only as day students. In 1881, Yao-ju "Charlie" Soong
Charlie Soong
Charles Jones Soong , courtesy name Yaoru was a Chinese businessman who first achieved prominence as a missionary in Shanghai. He was a close friend of Sun Yat-Sen and a key player in the events that led to the Xinhai Revolution in 1911...
from Weichau, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, enrolled, becoming the school's first international student.
Move to Durham: 1887-1900
In 1887, YaleYale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
-educated economist
Economist
An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
John Franklin Crowell became President of Trinity College. Committed to the German university model which emphasized research over recitation, Crowell directed a major revision in the curriculum and convinced the trustees to move to a more urban location. In 1892, Trinity opened in Durham, largely due to the generosity of Washington Duke
Washington Duke
George Washington Duke was an American tobacco industrialist and philanthropist.-Biography:Duke was born in Orange County, North Carolina , to Taylor Duke and Dicey Jones...
and Julian S. Carr
Julian Carr (industrialist)
Julian Shakespeare Carr was a North Carolina industrialist and philanthropist. He was married to Nannie Carr, with whom he had two daughters and three sons....
, powerful and respected Methodists who had grown prosperous through the tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
industry (see American Tobacco Company
American Tobacco Company
The American Tobacco Company was a tobacco company founded in 1890 by J. B. Duke through a merger between a number of U.S. tobacco manufacturers including Allen and Ginter and Goodwin & Company...
and Duke Power). Carr donated the site, which today is Duke's East Campus, while Washington Duke contributed $100,000 for the endowment and construction of a female dormitory named after his daughter Mary, with the stipulation of placing women on an "equal footing with men".
John C. Kilgo became president in 1894 and greatly increased the interest of the Duke family in Trinity. Washington Duke offered three gifts of $100,000 (about $2,200,000 in 2005 dollars
Inflation
In economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation also reflects an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a...
) each for endowment. Trinity was the first white institution of higher education in the South to invite Booker T. Washington
Booker T. Washington
Booker Taliaferro Washington was an American educator, author, orator, and political leader. He was the dominant figure in the African-American community in the United States from 1890 to 1915...
to speak (in 1900). That same year, the first Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
student graduated from Trinity.
Bassett Affair: 1903
John Spencer Bassett
John Spencer Bassett was an American historian. He was a professor at Duke University best known today for initiating the Bassett Affair in 1903.- Biography :...
published an article in the South Atlantic Quarterly entitled "Stirring Up the Fires of Race Antipathy" in October of 1903. In the article, he spoke about improving race relations and gave praise to numerous African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
s. Near the end of the article, he wrote "...Booker T. Washington
Booker T. Washington
Booker Taliaferro Washington was an American educator, author, orator, and political leader. He was the dominant figure in the African-American community in the United States from 1890 to 1915...
[is] the greatest man, save General Lee, born in the South in a hundred years..." This led to an outpouring of anger from powerful Democratic party leaders as well as the media and public. Many demanded that Bassett be fired and encouraged parents to take their children out of the university. Resulting from immense public pressure, Bassett offered his resignation if the Board of Trustees requested that he do so. The Board of Trustees then held a meeting to decide the fate of Bassett. In the end, they voted 18-7 not to accept the resignation citing academic freedom. In their decision, they wrote, "We are particularly unwilling to lend ourselves to any tendency to destroy or limit academic liberty, a tendency which has, within recent years, manifested itself in some conspicuous instances, and which has created a feeling of uneasiness for the welfare of American colleges [...] We cannot lend countenance to the degrading notion that professors in American colleges have not an equal liberty of thought and speech with all other Americans." In 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
commended Trinity and Bassett's courageous stand for academic freedom
Academic freedom
Academic freedom is the belief that the freedom of inquiry by students and faculty members is essential to the mission of the academy, and that scholars should have freedom to teach or communicate ideas or facts without being targeted for repression, job loss, or imprisonment.Academic freedom is a...
while speaking to the university. He told the school, "You stand for Academic Freedom, for the right of private judgment, for a duty more incumbent upon the scholar than upon any other man, to tell the truth as he sees it, to claim for himself and to give to others the largest liberty in seeking after the truth."
Blue Devils: 1922
Duke Blue Devils
Duke University's 26 varsity sports teams, known as the Blue Devils, compete in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The name comes from the French "les Diables Bleus" or "the Blue Devils," which was the nickname given during World War I to the Chasseurs Alpins, the French Alpine light infantry...
, has an interesting history. As World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
ended, Duke's Board of Trustees, then called the "Trinity College Board of Trustees," lifted their quarter century ban of football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
on campus leading to an interest in naming the athletic teams. The team was then known as the Trinity Eleven, the Blue and White, or the Methodists (as opposed to the Baptists of nearby rival Wake Forest University
Wake Forest University
Wake Forest University is a private, coeducational university in the U.S. state of North Carolina, founded in 1834. The university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina, the state capital. The Reynolda Campus, the university's main campus, is...
). Because of the ambiguity, the student newspaper, the Trinity Chronicle (now called The Chronicle
The Chronicle (Duke University)
The Chronicle is a daily student newspaper at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. The Chronicle was first published as The Trinity Chronicle on December 19, 1905. The paper's name was changed to The Chronicle when Trinity College was renamed Duke University following a donation by James...
) launched a campaign to create a new mascot. Nominations for a new team name included Catamounts, Grizzlies
Grizzly
Grizzly may refer to:* Grizzly bear , a North American bear* Grizzly , a Marvel Comics character* Grizzly , a novel in Gary Paulsen's World of Adventure series...
, Badger
Badger
Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the weasel family, Mustelidae. There are nine species of badger, in three subfamilies : Melinae , Mellivorinae , and Taxideinae...
s, Dreadnaughts, and Captains
Captain (nautical)
A sea captain is a licensed mariner in ultimate command of the vessel. The captain is responsible for its safe and efficient operation, including cargo operations, navigation, crew management and ensuring that the vessel complies with local and international laws, as well as company and flag...
. The Trinity Chronicle editor narrowed the many nominations down to those that utilized the school colors of dark blue and white. The narrowed list consisted of Blue Titan
Titan (mythology)
In Greek mythology, the Titans were a race of powerful deities, descendants of Gaia and Uranus, that ruled during the legendary Golden Age....
s, Blue Eagle
Eagle
Eagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in...
s, Polar Bear
Polar Bear
The polar bear is a bear native largely within the Arctic Circle encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the world's largest land carnivore and also the largest bear, together with the omnivorous Kodiak Bear, which is approximately the same size...
s, Blue Devils, Royal Blazes, and Blue Warrior
Warrior
A warrior is a person skilled in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based society that recognizes a separate warrior class.-Warrior classes in tribal culture:...
s. None of the nominations proved to be a clear favorite, but the name Blue Devils elicited criticism that could potentially engender opposition on campus. That year, the football season passed with no official selection.
During the 1922-1923 academic year, campus student leaders and the editors of the two other student publications, The Archive and The Chanticleer, decided that the newspaper staff should decide the name on their own because the nomination process had proved inconclusive. Editor-in-Chief William H. Lander and Managing Editor Mike Bradshaw began referring to the athletic teams as the Blue Devils. Though the name was not officially used that year, no opposition to the name arose (surprising many). The Chronicles staff continued to use the name and eventually, “Blue Devils” caught on.
Birth of Duke University: 1924-1938
James Buchanan Duke
James Buchanan Duke was a U.S. tobacco and electric power industrialist best known for his involvement with Duke University.-Personal life:...
established The Duke Endowment
The Duke Endowment
The Duke Endowment is a private foundation established in 1924 by industrialist and philanthropist James B. Duke. The mission of the foundation is to serve the people of North Carolina and South Carolina by supporting selected programs of higher education, health care, children's welfare, and...
, a $40 million (about $430 million in 2005 dollars
Inflation
In economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation also reflects an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a...
) trust fund, the annual income of which was to be distributed in the Carolinas among hospitals, orphanages, the Methodist Church, three colleges, and a university built around Trinity College. President William Preston Few insisted that the university be named Duke University, and James B. Duke agreed on the condition that it be a memorial to his father and family.
The university grew up quickly. Duke's original campus (now East Campus) was rebuilt from 1925 to 1927 with Georgian-style buildings. The School of Religion and Graduate School
Graduate School of Duke University
The Graduate School of Duke University is currently one of ten graduate and professional schools that make up the university. Established in 1926, the Graduate School offers the degrees of Master of Arts, Master of Science, Master of Arts in Teaching, Master of Public Policy, and the Doctor of...
opened in 1926. By 1930, the majority of the Gothic style buildings on the campus one mile (1.6 km) west were completed in order to accommodate the Undergraduate Trinity College for men as well as the professional schools. The Women's College on East Campus opened in 1930, at the same time as the men's Trinity College, the Medical School
Duke University School of Medicine
The Duke University School of Medicine is Duke University's medical school operating under the auspices of the Duke University Medical Center. Established in 1925 by James B...
, and the Hospital opened on West Campus. The Law School
Duke University School of Law
The Duke University School of Law is the law school and a constituent academic unit of Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States. One of Duke's 10 schools and colleges, the School of Law began as the Trinity College School of Law in 1868. In 1924, following the renaming of Trinity...
, founded in 1904, was reorganized in 1930. The School of Nursing
Duke University School of Nursing
The Duke University School of Nursing is located in Durham, NC and is affiliated with Duke University and Duke University Health System. The school offers an accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing, a Master of Science in Nursing, Doctorate in Nursing Practice , and a Ph.D. Program...
was founded in 1931, and the construction of Duke Chapel
Duke Chapel
Duke University Chapel is a chapel located at the center of the campus of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. It is an ecumenical Christian chapel and the center of religion at Duke, and has connections to the United Methodist Church...
was complete in 1935. In 1938, the School of Forestry (later becoming the School of the Environment
Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences
The Nicholas School of the Environment is one of ten graduate and professional schools at Duke University. The Levine Science Research Center is home to the vast majority of its programs, while a secondary facility is maintained in the coastal town of Beaufort, North Carolina...
opened. That same year, Duke’s football team, deemed the “Iron Dukes,” went unscored upon the entire regular season, finally giving up a touchdown to USC
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
in the final minute of the 1938 Rose Bowl
Rose Bowl Game
The Rose Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game, usually played on January 1 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on Monday, January 2...
loss. Shortly thereafter, Duke University became the thirty-fourth member of the Association of American Universities
Association of American Universities
The Association of American Universities is an organization of leading research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education...
.
Expansion and Growth: 1939-1992
| "Human progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and the persistent work of dedicated individuals who are willing to be co-workers with God. And without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the primitive forces of irrational emotionalism and social stagnation. And so it is necessary to help time – and to recognize that the time is always right to do what is right." |
| Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Nov. 13, 1964 at Duke's Page Auditorium |
Engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
, which had been taught since 1903, became a separate school in 1939. In athletics, Duke hosted and competed in the only Rose Bowl game ever played outside of California in Wallace Wade Stadium
Wallace Wade Stadium
Wallace Wade Stadium is a stadium on the campus of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Primarily used for American football, it is the home field of the Duke Blue Devils. It opened in 1929 with a game against Pitt, as the first facility in Duke's new west campus. The...
in 1942. Up until 1963, Duke University was a whites-only school, in both students and faculty. Increased activism on campus during the 1960s sparked Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to speak to the university on the civil rights movement’s progress on November 14, 1964. The overflow audience in Page Auditorium necessitated that organizers put the speech on loudspeakers to an outside crowd.
The former governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
of North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, Terry Sanford
Terry Sanford
James Terry Sanford was a United States politician and educator from North Carolina. A member of the Democratic Party, Sanford was the 65th Governor of North Carolina , a two-time U.S. Presidential candidate in the 1970s and a U.S. Senator...
, was elected president in 1969, propelling the Fuqua School of Business
Fuqua School of Business
The Fuqua School of Business is the business school of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, United States. It currently enrolls 1,340 students in degree-seeking programs...
’s opening. Additionally, the William R. Perkins library completion in 1969 doubled the library’s services and increased the collection’s total space by five hundred percent. In 1971, the Institute of Policy Sciences and Public Affairs was founded. The separate Woman's College merged back with Trinity as the liberal arts college for both men and women in 1972 and the Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture opened in 1974. Duke University Hospital, containing units for medicine, surgery, pediatrics, and obstetrics/gynecology, was finished in 1980. The Bryan University Center, a student union of sorts, was fully constructed two years later. Duke’s first NCAA championship was captured by the men's soccer team in 1986. This was followed by the men’s basketball team championships in 1991, 1992, and 2001.
Recent history: 1993-present
William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition
The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition, often abbreviated to the Putnam Competition, is an annual mathematics competition for undergraduate college students of the United States and Canada, awarding scholarships and cash prizes ranging from $250 to $2,500 for the top students and $5,000...
, earning the title of the best collegiate undergraduate math
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
team in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Duke would repeat as champions again in 1996 and 2000. In nine out of the past ten years, Duke’s team has finished in the top three, the only school besides Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
to do so. Since 1992, five Duke students have been named Putnam Fellows.
Construction continued on campus, with the 314000 square feet (29,171.6 m²) Levine Science Research Center
Levine Science Research Center
The Levine Science Research Center is a facility on Duke University's west campus located at 450 Research Drive Durham, NC 27708. The LSRC is currently the largest single-site interdisciplinary research facility in the U.S...
(LSRC) opening in 1994 to house interdisciplinary research. Later that year, the Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy relocated to a new building and new dorms opened on East Campus. In 1995, Peter M. Nicholas (’64), donated $20 million to the School of the Environment
Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences
The Nicholas School of the Environment is one of ten graduate and professional schools at Duke University. The Levine Science Research Center is home to the vast majority of its programs, while a secondary facility is maintained in the coastal town of Beaufort, North Carolina...
, which originated from the School of Forestry and the Duke Marine Lab. Also, James B. Duke’s daughter, Doris Duke
Doris Duke
Doris Duke was an American heiress, horticulturalist, art collector, and philanthropist.-Family and early life:...
, gave the university $10 million for research.
The next year, recreational facilities received a major facelift, with the Keith and Brenda Brodie Recreational Center opening on East Campus, and a major overhaul of Wilson Recreation Center on West Campus in the works. Also in 1996, Robert Coleman
Robert Coleman Richardson
Robert Coleman Richardson is an American experimental physicist whose area of research includes sub-millikelvin temperature studies of helium-3...
(Ph.D. '65) won the Nobel Prize in Physics
Nobel Prize in Physics
The Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded once a year by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895 and awarded since 1901; the others are the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Peace Prize, and...
.
In 1998, Duke President Nan Keohane initiated a five-year $1.5 billion Campaign for Duke fundraising effort. Former President George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
delivered the commencement address, following Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
’s lead the year before. Edmund T. Pratt, Jr.
Edmund T. Pratt, Jr.
Edmund T. Pratt, Jr. was the Chairman and CEO of Pfizer Inc.. He served as President from 1971 to 1972, CEO from 1972 to 1991, and Chairman from 1972 to 1992. He is the namesake of Duke University's Engineering School.-Early life:...
('47) endowed the Pratt School of Engineering with a $35 million gift in 1999. A year later, major plans for an overhaul of the residence life structure were approved. In the 2000s, campus growth has shown no signs of slowing down (see Construction projects at Duke University). The Campaign for Duke ended in 2003 with $2.36 billion raised, making it the fifth largest campaign in the history of American higher education.
In the 2004 fiscal year, research expenditures surpassed $490 million, leading to a myriad of important breakthroughs. The Duke Global Health Research Building, one of four laboratories in the U.S. attempting to "develop new vaccines, drugs, and tests to fight infectious diseases for a Duke-led consortium of universities," broke ground. Also undergoing construction was the Duke Smart House, a 4500 square feet (418.1 m²) research center in which undergraduates explore resource-efficient design.
In 2005, three students were named Rhodes Scholars
Rhodes Scholarship
The Rhodes Scholarship, named after Cecil Rhodes, is an international postgraduate award for study at the University of Oxford. It was the first large-scale programme of international scholarships, and is widely considered the "world's most prestigious scholarship" by many public sources such as...
, making Duke the institution tied for the second most recipients. In Duke history, forty students have been honored with this scholarship. More recent research includes a blueprint for an invisibility
Invisibility
Invisibility is the state of an object that cannot be seen. An object in this state is said to be invisible . The term is usually used as a fantasy/science fiction term, where objects are literally made unseeable by magical or technological means; however, its effects can also be seen in the real...
cloak using "metamaterials" and Duke researchers’ involvement in mapping the final human chromosome
Chromosome
A chromosome is an organized structure of DNA and protein found in cells. It is a single piece of coiled DNA containing many genes, regulatory elements and other nucleotide sequences. Chromosomes also contain DNA-bound proteins, which serve to package the DNA and control its functions.Chromosomes...
, which made world news as the Human Genome Project
Human Genome Project
The Human Genome Project is an international scientific research project with a primary goal of determining the sequence of chemical base pairs which make up DNA, and of identifying and mapping the approximately 20,000–25,000 genes of the human genome from both a physical and functional...
was finally complete.
Sustainability
Duke University has undertaken a number of initiatives designed to improve campus sustainability. The school receives over 30% of its energy needs from wind and hydroelectric power sources, making it one of the top five purchasers of renewable energy amongst organizations in the field of higher education. The school makes an effort to buy food from local growers, and adjusts the menus of its eateries seasonally. All of the dining establishments on campus use fair trade coffee, recycled napkins, and are required to recycle and compost.The Duke campus presently features 17 projects which are LEED-certified, and all future campus buildings will be required to meet this same certification standard. A plan to redesign a 200 acre (0.809372 km²) area of the central campus, which will integrate sustainable practices at all levels of its construction, is also currently under development.
As a result of its campus wide efforts at sustainability, Duke University received a B+ grade from the Sustainable Endowments Institute’s College Sustainability Report Card 2008.
Important dates
| Name changes | |
|---|---|
| Year | Name |
| 1838 | Brown School |
| 1841 | Union Institute |
| 1851 | Normal College |
| 1859 | Trinity College |
| 1924 | Duke University |
| Establishment of Schools | |
|---|---|
| Year | School/College |
| 1859 | Trinity College of Arts & Sciences |
| 1924 | School of Law |
| 1926 | Divinity School |
| 1926 | Graduate School |
| 1930 | School of Medicine |
| 1931 | School of Nursing |
| 1938 | School of the Environment |
| 1939 | School of Engineering |
| 1969 | School of Business |
| 1971 | School of Public Policy |
| 2000 | Duke-NUS Medical |
| Presidents of Duke University | |
|---|---|
| Years | President |
| 1838-1842 | Brantley York Brantley York Richard Brantley York was a Methodist minister and educator best known for founding and serving as president of the institution that would become Duke University, Union Institute Academy in Randolph County, North Carolina... |
| 1842-1863 | Braxton Craven Braxton Craven Braxton Craven was a U.S. educator. He served as the second president of the institution that became Duke University from 1842 to 1863 and then again from 1866 to 1882. The institution was known as Union Institute from 1841 to 1851, Normal College until 1859, and Trinity College until 1924... |
| 1863-1865 | William Trigg Gannaway William Trigg Gannaway William Trigg Gannaway served as president pro tempore of Duke University during the absence of Braxton Craven in 1864-1865. Gannaway received his diplomas from Emory University and Henry College. He was a Professor of Latin, Greek, and philosophy at Trinity College... |
| 1866-1882 | Braxton Craven Braxton Craven Braxton Craven was a U.S. educator. He served as the second president of the institution that became Duke University from 1842 to 1863 and then again from 1866 to 1882. The institution was known as Union Institute from 1841 to 1851, Normal College until 1859, and Trinity College until 1924... |
| 1883-1884 | Marquis Lafayette Wood Marquis Lafayette Wood Marquis Lafayette Wood was a Methodist minister who served as president of Trinity College, the predecessor of Duke University, following the death of Braxton Craven. Wood raised the first endowment money for Duke... |
| 1887-1894 | John Franklin Crowell John Franklin Crowell John Franklin Crowell served as president of Trinity College, the predecessor of Duke University, from 1887 to 1894. Crowell studied economics at Yale University, Columbia University and the University of Berlin... |
| 1894-1910 | John Carlisle Kilgo |
| 1910-1940 | William Preston Few William Preston Few William Preston Few was the first president of Duke University and the fifth president of its predecessor, Trinity College.... |
| 1941-1948 | Robert Lee Flowers Robert Lee Flowers Robert Lee Flowers served as president of Duke University from 1941 to 1948. Flowers graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and worked for Trinity College as a Professor in electrical engineering and mathematics before becoming an administrator... |
| 1949-1960 | Arthur Hollis Edens Arthur Hollis Edens Arthur Hollins Edens served as President of Duke University from 1949 to 1960. Duke's third president after the school's expansion from college to university, Edens was first president hired from outside the university since 1894, when John C. Kilgo was hired away from Wofford College... |
| 1960-1963 | Julian Deryl Hart Julian Deryl Hart Julian Deryl Hart served as President of Duke University, North Carolina, United States, from 1960 to 1963. Previously, he was the Professor and Chairman of the Department of Surgery at Duke. During his presidency of three years, he planned and initiated programs to enhance the "academic... |
| 1963-1969 | Douglas Maitland Knight Douglas Knight Douglas Maitland Knight was an American educator, businessman and author. He was a former president of both Lawrence University and Duke University.... |
| 1969-1985 | Terry Sanford Terry Sanford James Terry Sanford was a United States politician and educator from North Carolina. A member of the Democratic Party, Sanford was the 65th Governor of North Carolina , a two-time U.S. Presidential candidate in the 1970s and a U.S. Senator... |
| 1985-1993 | H. Keith H. Brodie H. Keith H. Brodie H. Keith H. Brodie is an American psychiatrist, educator, and president emeritus of Duke University.-Academic career:... |
| 1993-2004 | Nannerl O. Keohane |
| 2004-Present | Richard H. Brodhead Richard H. Brodhead Richard Halleck Brodhead Marquis Who's Who on the Web currently serves as the ninth president of Duke University and is a scholar of 19th-century American literature.-Early life and education:... |
External links
- Duke History
- Duke University Libraries Digital Collections - Construction of Duke University, 1924-1932 Includes photographs and records produced during the design and construction of the university's east and west campuses.
- Office of the University Architect homepage
- Julian Abele (Duke University Architect)