Duke University

When you discuss Duke University it isn't long before the Blue Devil basketball team enters the discussion. The school is located in Durham, NC and in addition to accredited academics, is home to one of the most prolific basketball programs in the nation.

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Duke University - Overview

Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina. The school which officially became Duke University in 1924, traces its institutional roots to 1838. Beginning in the 1970s, Duke administrators began a long-term effort to strengthen Duke’s reputation both nationally and internationally. Interdisciplinary work was emphasized, as was recruiting minority faculty and students.

Besides academics, research, and athletics, Duke University is also well known for its sizable campus and Gothic architecture, especially Duke Chapel. The forested environs surrounding parts of campus belie the university’s proximity to downtown Durham. Duke’s 8,709 acres contain three main campuses in Durham as well as a marine lab in Beaufort. Construction projects have updated the freshmen-housed Georgian-style East Campus, the main Gothic-style West Campus, as well as the adjacent Medical Center over the past five years. Other projects are underway on all three campuses, including a 20 to 50 year overhaul of Central Campus, the first phrase of which is expected to be completed in fall 2008 at an estimated cost of $240 million.


History

Duke University started as Brown’s Schoolhouse, a private subscription school founded in 1838 in the present-day town of Trinity. The school was organized by the Union Institute Society, a group of Methodists and Quakers, and in 1841 North Carolina issued a charter for Union Institute Academy. The academy was renamed Normal College in 1851 and then Trinity College in 1859 because of support from the Methodist Church. In 1892, Trinity moved to Durham, largely duet to generosity from 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 Duke, established The Duke Endowment with a $40 million trust fund. The annual income of the fund was to be distributed to hospitals, orphanages, the Methodist Church, three colleges, and Trinity College. William Preston Few, the president of Trinity at the time, insisted the university be named Duke University, and James Duke agreed that it would be a memorial to his father. Money from the endowment allowed the university to grow quickly. By 1930, the majority of the Gothic style buildings were completed and the Duke Chapel was done in 1935.


Academics

Duke University’s student body consists of 6,244 undergraduates and 5,993 graduate and professional students. The undergraduate student body contains nearly 40% ethnic minorities. For the undergraduate class of 2010, the acceptance rate of 21% set a record for the lowest in university history. 58% of high school valedictorians were rejected, while 96% of admitted students ranked in the top 10% of their high school class. The average SAT score was 2210 and the ACT average was 32.

Duke University has two schools for undergraduates: Trinity College of Arts and Sciences and Pratt School of Engineering. The university’s graduate and professional schools include the Graduate School, the Pratt School of Engineering, the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, the School of Medicine, the School of Nursing, the Fuqua School of Business, the School of Law, and the Divinity School.


Research

Duke University’s research expenditures topped $490 million in 2004. In the 2005 fiscal year, Duke University Medical Center received the fifth-largest amount of funding from the National Institute of Health, netting almost $350 million. Duke’s funding increased approximately 15% from 2004, representing the largest growth of any top-20 recipient. Throughout history, Duke researchers have made several important breakthroughs, including the biomedical engineering department’s development of the world’s first real-time, three-dimensional ultrasound diagnostic system and the first engineering blood vessels. In the mechanical engineering department, Adrian Bejan developed the constructal theory, which explains the shapes that arise in nature. Duke has pioneered studies involving nonlinear dynamics, chaos, and complex systems in physics. In May 2006, Duke researchers mapped the final human chromosome, which made world news as the Human Genome Project was finally complete. Reports of Duke researches’ involvement in new AIDS vaccine research surfaced in June 2006.


Activities

Approximately 400 student clubs and organizations run on Duke’s campus. These include numerous student government, special interest, and service organizations. Duke Student Government charters and provides most of the funding for these organizations, and represent students’ interest when dealing with the administration. One of the most popular activities on campus is competing in sports. The Blue Devils have 35 sports clubs and 29 intramural teams that are officially recognized.

Several cultural groups exist on campus such as the Asian Students Association, AQUADuke, Black Student Alliance, Dance Black, Diya, Jewish Life at Duke, Mi Gente, International Association/International Council, Muslim Student Association, Native American Student Coalition, Newman Catholic Student Center, and Students of the Caribbean.


Campus

Duke University owns 217 buildings on 8,709 acres of land, which includes the 7,200 acre Duke Forest. The campus is divided into four main areas: the Medical Center, West, East, and Central Campus. All the campuses are connected via a free bus service that runs frequently throughout the week. On the Atlantic coast in Beaufort, Duke owns 15 acres as part of its Marine Lab. One of the major public attractions on the Duke Campus is the 55 acre Sarah P. Duke Gardens, established in the 1930s.

As of November 1st, 2005, Duke University had spent $835 million on 34 major construction projects initiated since February 2001. At the time, Duke initiated a five year strategic plan, “Building on Excellence.” Completed projects since 2002 include major additions to the business, law, nursing, and divinity schools, a new library, and art museum, a football training facility, two residential buildings, and engineering complex, a public policy building, an eye institute, two genetic research buildings, The French Science Center, and a student plaza.


Libraries

With more than 5.5 million volumes, the Duke University Library System is one of the ten largest private university library systems in the U.S. It contains 17.7 million manuscripts, 1.2 million public documents, and tens of thousands of films and videos. Besides the main William R. Perkins Library, the university also contains the separately administered Ford, Divinity School, Duke Law, and Medical Center Libraries.


The Duke Forest

Established in 1931, the Duke Forest today consists of 7,200 acres in six divisions located just west of Duke University’s West Campus. Duke Forest is one of the largest continually-managed forests in the U.S. and demonstrates many different forest stand types and silvicultural treatments. Duke Forest is used extensively for research and includes the Aquatic Research Facility, Forest Carbon Transfer and Storage research facility, two permanent towers suitable for micrometerological studies, and other areas designated for animal behavior and ecosystem study. More than 30 miles of trials are open to the public hiking, cycling, and horseback riding.

Located inside the Duke Forest, the Duke Lemur Center is the world’s largest sanctuary for rare and endangered prosimian primates. Founded in 1996, the Duke Lemur Center spans 85 acres and contains nearly 300 animals of 25 different species of lemurs, galagos, and lorises.


Athletics

Duke’s 26 varsity sport teams, known as the Blue Devils, compete in the NCAA’s Division I Atlantic Coast Conference. The Blue Devil teams have won eight NCAA team national championships. Historically, Duke’s major rival has been the University of North Carolina Tar Heels, especially in basketball.

A traditional powerhouse, the Blue Devil’s basketball team is the fourth most victorious program of all time. The team captured three National Championships, while attending 14 Final Fours and nine Championship games. Additionally, the Blue Devils have won the most ACC Championships with 16 and have had the most National Players of the Year in the nation with 11. 71 players have been drafted in the NBA Draft, while 55 players have been honored as All-American. Duke’s program is one of only two to have been to at least one Final Four and one National Championship game in each of the last five decades. The program’s home facility is historic Cameron Indoor Stadium, often considered one of the top venues in the nation.

The Blue Devil’s success has been particularly outstanding over the past 25 years under legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski, known as Coach K. Their successes include becoming the only team to win 3 national championships since the NCAA Tournament field was expanded to 64 teams in 1985, ten Final Fours in the last 21 years, and 5 straight ACC tournament championships from 1999 to 2003.


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