Durham Celebrates Duke

Duke fans have been celebrating since Tuesday's historic NCAA Championship Men's Basketball win and now the community is invited to Durham to celebrate.

The community will come together to show a little Durham love to the 2015 Duke University Men’s Basketball NCAA championship-winning team with an event on Tuesday, April 14 from 5-6 p.m. at the American Tobacco Campus lawn and amphitheater.

Music and pre-event festivities will start at 4:30 p.m. with the Duke pep band and Duke cheerleaders. At 5 p.m. the team will be welcomed by Durham Chamber President Casey Steinbacher and then recognized by Durham Mayor Bill Bell and Durham County Board of Commissioners Chairman Michael Page. The team will be presented and Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski will give remarks.

The celebration is presented by the Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau, Downtown Durham Inc., The Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce, The City of Durham, and Durham County to recognize and thank the team for bringing such tremendous honor to Durham through their excellence as a team.

Graduation Survival Guide

There’s no better time to enjoy Durham than spring. Amid blooming landscapes, many students at Durham’s esteemed universities like North Carolina Central University and Duke University are studying for final exams and anticipating graduation weekend. It’s one of the busiest times of year in Durham, but we've prepared a Graduation Survival Guide for locals and graduates to help everyone have a great weekend.

Duke Moves Up to Tie For 7th In Latest U.S. News Rankings

Durham's own Duke University rose to a tie for seventh place in the latest annual rankings by U.S. News & World Report magazine of national universities that offer doctoral degrees.

Last year, Duke shared the No. 8 spot. It was ranked 10th in 2011. This year, Duke is in a tie for seventh with the University of Pennsylvania and MIT.

In its latest rankings, U.S. News also placed Duke in a tie for seventh among national universities that have a strong commitment to teaching.

The magazine singled out Duke in four categories in "Programs to Look For," which it described as enriched offerings that provide undergraduates with the best possible experience. Duke was cited for service learning, senior capstone, undergraduate research/creative projects and writing in the disciplines.

Duke's undergraduate engineering program was ranked in a tie for 19th among doctoral universities -– up one spot from a year ago -- and the Pratt School’s biomedical/biomedical engineering program placed second in the rankings.

In the latest survey, U.S. News ranked Duke at No. 12 in a category called "Great Schools at Great Prices," for which the magazine compares a school's academic quality with the net cost of attendance for a student who receives the average level of need-based financial aid.

Duke also was among four schools tied for 17th in the category "economic diversity," which the magazine said gauges “institutions’ relative commitment to access for all.” Duke was among seven national universities tied for 12th in a survey of high school guidance counselors.

Additional information about the U.S. News & World Report rankings is available online.

Learn more about why Durham, NC is a place where great things happen.

Duke Receives $10 Million Gift for Events Pavillion

The newly opened Events Pavilion at Duke University in Durham will now have a name thanks to a large donation by a Duke trustee.

Duke University trustee Bob Penn and his wife, Katherine, have committed $10 million in support of a new 25,000-square-foot events and dining pavilion for students, President Richard H. Brodhead announced Thursday.

The mostly glass structure, which was completed this summer, is located next to the Bryan Center on Duke’s West Campus.

“This wonderful gift from Bob and Katherine Penn is more than a building,” Brodhead said. “It is a gathering place befitting our vibrant student community, making possible all kinds of interactions and connections. We’re tremendously grateful to Bob and Katherine for ensuring that the joyful spirit they found at Duke as students will continue for generations to come.”

Construction of the pavilion was the first step in the renovation of West Union, part of an $80 million enhancement of student life on campus funded by a gift from The Duke Endowment that also includes upgrades to Page Auditorium on West Campus and Baldwin Auditorium on East Campus. Penn Pavilion will serve as a temporary dining space until the West Union renovations are complete. After that, the pavilion will be a venue for student gatherings and university events.

“We think it’s important to foster the same strong sense of community for undergraduates that existed when we were at Duke. Gathering spaces like this pavilion are a key part of that,” said Bob Penn, who, like his wife, graduated from Duke in 1974. He earned a bachelor's degree in Latin American studies while Katherine Penn earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology.

Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs, called Penn Pavilion “a wonderful addition to the Duke landscape.”
“Penn Pavilion will be a fantastic space to host career fairs, performances, banquets and more,” Moneta said.
The commitment by the Penns will help advance the comprehensive Duke Forward fundraising campaign, which has now passed the halfway point toward its $3.25 billion goal. The effort supports priorities across Duke's 10 schools, Duke Medicine and a range of university programs. Enriching the Duke experience is one of the overarching goals of the campaign. Penn serves on Duke Forward’s Leadership Gifts Committee.
"Penn Pavilion will be a hub for connecting co-curricular and academic life and allow us to take the engaged learning that is a signature of the Duke undergraduate experience to a new level,” said Steve Nowicki, dean of undergraduate education.

“This is exactly the space we need to help us connect the learning that goes on outside the classroom with the learning that goes on inside the classroom."

Duke Student Government President Stefani Jones called the pavilion an ideal place for students to “meet up, socialize and enjoy some great food.”

“We can't wait to use the space for events like watch parties during basketball season and midnight breakfasts before finals,” she said.

Penn joined the Duke University Board of Trustees in 2011 and sits on the Audit Committee and the Facilities and Environment Committee.

His volunteer commitment to Duke includes service on the Annual Fund Executive Committee, which he chaired in 2009-10. He also has served on the Duke Club of North Texas, the Trinity College of Arts & Sciences Board of Visitors and the Duke Talent Identification Program Advisory Board.

In 2004, Penn received the Charles A. Dukes Award, which is given to volunteers who have served with distinction in leadership roles and gone beyond expectations to help Duke further its mission.

The Penns have also jointly served as national co-chairs of the Braxton Craven Fellows and the James B. Duke Society and several reunion committees. Their three daughters attended Duke.

Discover more about Duke, and the city and county of Durham, NC.

Duke's Class of 2017 Orientation Week Begins Tuesday

More than 1,730 undergraduate students will make the Duke University campus in Durham, NC a home away from home beginning with move-in day on Tuesday, Aug. 20.

The first-year students and their families will get help unloading cars and moving boxes into the East Campus residence halls from advisory counselors, residence assistants, Duke administrators and even President Richard H. Brodhead.

After moving in, they will embark on a week filled with academic and social events designed to introduce them to the Duke and Durham communities.

“Our orientation welcome week enables us to create a sense of connection to the university and the broader community for first-year students,” said Maddie Jothimurugesan, program coordinator for New Student Programs. “Our students arrive on campus from all corners of the world. It is essential to give them time to adjust to their Duke surroundings before they commence their academic endeavors.”

The class of 2017 represents 49 U.S. states and more than 80 countries. As in years past, the most-represented states are North Carolina (199), California (158), New York (136) and Florida (132).
Twenty-seven percent of the entering class is Asian, Asian American or Pacific Islander, 11 percent is African American and 13 percent are foreign citizens. Most come from public high schools.

“Like the classes that preceded them, this group of incoming students is incredibly talented and committed, and bring a wide range of experiences, backgrounds and interests to the Duke community,” said Christoph Guttentag, dean of undergraduate admissions. “Forty-five percent of them applied early decision, so I think we’ll see a particularly strong sense of enthusiasm for the exceptional opportunities Duke will offer them.”
On Wednesday, President Brodhead will join the dean of undergraduate education Steve Nowicki to officially welcome students at an 11 a.m. convocation ceremony in Duke Chapel. The event will be streamed live on YouTube.

Students can tweet about their experiences at Duke during orientation week using the Twitter hashtag #Duke2017.

Later on Wednesday evening, the new students will convene on the East Campus quad for the annual class photo. The students will spell out “2017” for this longstanding tradition. The event can be viewed live on Duke University’s Google Hangout.

On Thursday evening, the students will venture into Durham for “A Night on the Town,” enjoying dinner and music at the American Tobacco Campus followed by a performance at the Durham Performing Arts Center. The John Brown Big Band, led by a Duke jazz professor, and The Beast, a jazz and hip-hop fusion band, will provide entertainment.

On Friday, the students will share their first academic experience together, gathering in two separate sessions to discuss this year’s summer reading selection, “Let The Great World Spin,” a novel by Colum McCann. A week later, on Friday, Aug. 30, McCann will give a talk at 7 p.m. at the newly remodeled Baldwin Auditorium.

Also on Friday the students will have a chance to participate in their first pep rally at Wallace Wade Stadium organized by Duke Athletics.

On Saturday, faculty members will take students on several excursions into Durham, including a visit to the Durham Farmer’s Market, a hike through historic Durham neighborhoods, a canoe trip down the Eno River and a tour of Duke’s Lemur Center. That evening they are invited to dress up to attend “A Night at the Nasher,” where they will view an art exhibit related to the summer reading.

Sunday morning at 11 a.m., the Rev. Luke Powery, dean of Duke Chapel, will preside over the first worship service of the academic year. A 4 p.m. talk at Duke Chapel by author Maya Angelou, another longstanding tradition, will be the highlight of Sunday afternoon. Classes begin Monday, Aug. 26.

Motorists traveling to and around Duke’s East and West campuses should allow for extra travel time due to road construction, street closings and delays. Newcomers are advised not to rely on GPS navigation.

During Tuesday’s move-in all parking areas on East Campus will be cleared of vehicles from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. Entrances to East Campus will be closed to everyone except students and their families.

For a full schedule of orientation week activities for the Class of 2017, go to the Student Affairs website.

Learn more about Durham.

Duke Announces Fulbright Scholarship Winners

Eighteen seniors and graduate students from Duke University in Durham, NC will study abroad for the 2013-14 academic as recipients of Fulbright Scholarships.

The students will spend their school year conducting research, studying and teaching English.

Duke seniors, recently graduated alumni and graduate students can apply for Fulbright Scholarships. The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government. It is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and those of other countries.

The following are the names, fields of study and countries of study of this year's Duke Fulbright scholars:

Lindsey Brandt-Bennett (graduate student), language and literature, Germany.
Annie Brock (graduate student), environmental studies, Indonesia.
Christopher Clayton (senior), public health, Bolivia and Ecuador.
Alexandra Dodson (graduate student), art and architectural history, Italy.
Ashley Elrod (graduate student), history, Germany.
Miriam Fox (senior), public health, Argentina.
Julia Goss (senior), environmental studies, Cambodia.
Alyssa Granacki (senior), English teaching assistant, Italy.
Taylor Hausburg (senior), English teaching assistant, Rwanda.
Elizabeth Jazwiecki (senior), English teaching assistant, Taiwan.
Ji-Hyeun Kwon-Min (senior), English teaching assistant, Spain.
Karolina Puskarczyk (senior), public health, Poland.
Rochelle Rojas (graduate student), history, Spain.
Stephanie Rotolo (senior), public health, Togo.
Samuel Shearer (graduate student), anthropology, Rwanda.
Erica Sherman (graduate student), art and architectural history, Brazil.
Michael Spolum (graduate student), environmental studies, Burma.

Antonina Vikhrest (senior), interdisciplinary studies, Ukraine.

Learn more about where to get a great education- Durham, NC.

The Duke Endowment Gives $5.74 Million for Clergy Health Research

Being a clergy-member is a stressful job. Perhaps that's why Duke University has taken an interest in the health of United Methodist clergy in North Carolina.

The Duke Endowment has committed $5.74 million to Duke Divinity School to extend the work of its Clergy Health Initiative, an effort to study and improve the health and well-being of United Methodist clergy in North Carolina, President Richard H. Brodhead announced Monday.

“We greatly appreciate the leadership of The Duke Endowment in ensuring that this important research will continue,” said Brodhead.  “Duke’s Clergy Health Initiative is contributing valuable expertise toward this complex issue, reflecting two of the core priorities of The Duke Endowment -- health care and the Methodist church in North Carolina.  Protecting the health of pastors helps to sustain the health of communities across our state.”

Duke Endowment Trustee Dennis Campbell, who chairs the Endowment’s Committee on Rural Church, said the Endowment is pleased to support such critical work. “We’re giving pastors the tools to take care of themselves so they can continue the important job of taking good care of their congregations,” Campbell said.

The Duke Endowment initially funded the project in 2007 with a gift of $12 million. Over the past six years, findings from the initiative’s research have demonstrated there is a critical need for health programs tailored to clergy.

Compared to other North Carolinians, United Methodist clergy have higher rates of obesity (40 percent to 29 percent), diabetes, asthma and arthritis. About 10.5 percent of them also exhibit symptoms of depression -- nearly double the national average of 5.5 percent.

Yet because clergy perceive themselves to be much healthier than they actually are and because they often default to caring for others first, they are unlikely to seek help.

The new funding will enable the Clergy Health Initiative to extend the longitudinal study from which these findings emerged and further analyze the data. The gift supports Duke Forward, the $3.25 billion, university-wide fundraising campaign launched last fall.

“We are tremendously grateful to The Duke Endowment for its vision in supporting this work,” said Rae Jean Proeschold-Bell, research director of the Clergy Health Initiative and assistant research professor at the Duke Global Health Institute. “Prior to this program, very little research had been done in the field of clergy health, and yet the number of diverse denominations that approach us with health concerns suggests that clergy health problems are common, and that they’re taking a notable toll.”

The gift also will support the continued implementation of Spirited Life, a multi-year health intervention program that the Clergy Health Initiative offers to pastors in the North Carolina and Western North Carolina Conferences of the United Methodist Church. Grounded in theology, Spirited Life combines weight loss and stress management interventions into a single program.

Approximately 1,100 pastors -- more than 60 percent of the eligible clergy -- enrolled in Spirited Life, which launched in 2011. Through the program, pastors receive access to two years of wellness coaching and holistic health programming. Spirited Life aims to decrease metabolic syndrome (a group of risk factors that increase a person’s risk for heart disease, diabetes and stroke), decrease stress and depression, and enhance spiritual vitality.

Participants were randomly divided into three groups. Data from the first group to complete the program show positive trends. Clergy have lost -- and kept off -- significant amounts of weight, and as a group they have lowered their risk for metabolic syndrome since beginning the program. Clergy in the second and third groups did not experience improvements while they waited to participate, but they are all now engaged in the program.

Established in 1924 by industrialist and philanthropist James B. Duke, The Duke Endowment in Charlotte, N.C., is the largest private foundation in the Southeast. Through its four program areas -- child care, health care, higher education and rural churches -- it distributes grants to organizations across North Carolina and South Carolina. The Endowment’s founder is the same Duke behind Duke University and Duke Energy, but they are all separate organizations.

Additional information about the Duke Clergy Health Initiative and its research findings is available online at www.clergyhealthinitiative.org.

Learn more about all the great things that Durham offers.

Duke University Announces Reginaldo Howard Memorial Scholarship Awards

Four incoming Freshmen at Duke University will be resting easy in their student housing in Durham.

Duke University has awarded four incoming freshmen with the prestigious Reginaldo Howard Memorial Scholarship, which covers full tuition, room, board and mandatory fees for eight semesters.

The full value of each scholarship is more than $220,000 over four years. Duke University provides this award annually to first year students of African heritage who have a demonstrated a serious commitment to academic achievement, leadership, community involvement and social justice.

The Reginaldo Howard Memorial undergraduate scholarship is named for the first black student body president at Duke, who died in a car accident in 1976.

For more information about the incoming class of “Reggie” Scholars, visit the scholarship’s new website at reggies.duke.edu

This year’s recipients are:

• Matthew Carter Alston of Clarkston, Ga., a graduate of Academe of the Oaks in Decatur, Ga., and son of Stacey and Ronald Alston.
• Justin Olivier Bryant of Johns Creek, Ga., a graduate of Northview High School in Duluth, Ga., and son of Jacqueline Royal-Bryant and Colin Bryant.
• Chidinma Hannah Nnoromele of Richmond, Ky., a graduate of Model Laboratory School in Richmond Ky., and daughter of Salome and Patrick Nnoromele.
• Azeb Yirga of Glen Allen, Va., a graduate of Henrico High School in Henrico, Va., and daughter of Mariam Alemayehu and Solomon Yirga.

For more information on Durham, NC visit this site.

Duke Announces University Scholarship Awards

Seven high school graduates, including two international students, have been named winners of the prestigious University Scholarships at Duke University.

The University Scholars Program was created in 1998 with a gift from Duke alumna Melinda French Gates and her husband Bill Gates, through the William H. Gates Foundation. The program is designed to stimulate an interdisciplinary, inter-generational community of scholars.

The full value of each scholarship is estimated to be more than $220,000 over four years and covers full tuition, room, board and mandatory fees. The award is given to financially deserving students who represent a range of personal and intellectual backgrounds and share an excitement for original research, collaborative thinking and innovative scholarship.

This year’s recipients are:

• Minjia Jennifer Chang, of Miller Place, NY, a graduate of Miller Place High School in Miller Place, and daughter of Xiaoping Zhang and Xiangyun Cheng.
• Zachary Dean Heater, of Indianola, IA, a graduate of Indianola High School in Indianola, and son of Janna and Darren Heater.
• Greg Lyons, of Medfield, Mass., a graduate of Medfield High School in Medfield, and son of Cathy and Michael Lyons.
• Ryan Christopher Meingasner, of Loxahatchee, Fla., a graduate of Seminole Ridge Community High School in Loxahatchee, and son of Monique and Thomas Meingasner.
• Tamra Meron Nebabu, of Lorton, Va., a graduate of Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria, Va., and daughter of Misrak Ayele and Nebabu Aynealem.
• Muhammad Khizar Qazi, of Rawalpindi, Pakistan, a graduate of Roots School System in Islamabad, and son of Najma Qamar Khan and Qazi Muhammad Naim.  
• Sakura Takahashi, of Yokohama, Japan, a graduate of Saint Maur International School in Yokohama, and daughter of Kaori and Masayuki Takahashii

For more information about the incoming class of University Scholars, visit the scholarship’s website at www.usp.duke.edu.

For more information about Durham, NC visit www.durham-nc.com.

Three NC Seniors to Receive Trinity Scholarship Awards from Duke

Three North Carolina students won't be going too far away for college, but they will have much to discover in Durham at Duke University.

Three graduating North Carolina high school seniors will receive Trinity Scholarships from Duke University, which each carry a value of more than $220,000 over four years and cover most of the costs to attend the university.

Duke created the Trinity Scholarships with the support of its North Carolinian alumni to honor the university's origins as Trinity College in Randolph County, N.C.

These scholarships are awarded on a rotating basis to some of the most gifted students residing within specific geographic areas of North Carolina.

This year's scholarships and recipients are:

• The Plato and Betty Wilson Trinity Scholarship has been awarded to Katherine Tate Cottam of High Point, N.C., a graduate of High Point Central High School in High Point, and daughter of Evelyn and Richard Cottam;
• The Robert Ketner Trinity Scholarship has been awarded to Zackery Wayne Reavis of Greensboro, N.C., a graduate of Western Guilford High School in Greensboro, and son of Tina and Roger Reavis;
• The Four-County Area Trinity Scholarship has been awarded to Lucy Elizabeth Laird, of Oak Ridge, N.C., a graduate of Northwest Guilford High School in Greensboro, N.C., and daughter of Patricia and David Laird.

For more information about Durham, NC, where great things happen, click here.

Duke Announces B.N. Duke Scholarship Winners

Ten incoming first-year students from North and South Carolina have been awarded the prestigious Benjamin N. Duke Memorial Scholarship, which covers full tuition, room, board and mandatory fees for eight semesters at Duke University in Durham, NC.

The full value of each scholarship is estimated to be more than $220,000 over four years. The award is given to students from the two states who have a demonstrated potential for leadership and an affinity for community service, in addition to high academic achievement.

The scholarship also includes service and leadership development activities and two summer programs, one in the Carolinas and one abroad, during the recipients' undergraduate careers at Duke.

The scholarships were established by The Duke Endowment to honor Benjamin Newton Duke, one of the founders of Duke University.
This year's recipients are:

• John Victor Sena Alencar of Columbia, S.C., a graduate of Dreher High School in Columbia, and son of Ana Karina and Tom Alencar;
• Logan Nicole Beyer of New Bern, N.C., a graduate of Arendell Parrott Academy in Kinston, N.C., and daughter of Kristin Blevins Beyer and Jay Beyer;
• Margaret Louise Booz of Winston-Salem, N.C., a graduate of Mount Tabor High School in Winston-Salem, and daughter of Deborah and Mark Booz;
• Chuckwuma Nnanyelu Eruchalu of Charlotte, N.C., a graduate of Charlotte Latin School in Charlotte, and son of Adaora and Obinna Eruchalu;
• Rachel Anne Glenn of Wilmington, N.C., a graduate of Isaac Bear Early College High School in Wilmington, and daughter of Teresa Lambe and Jeffrey Glenn;
• Kristen Michele Larson of Goldsboro, N.C., a graduate of North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics in Durham, N.C., and daughter of Michele and Robert Larson;
• Bruna Meira de Vasconcelos Liborio of Concord, N.C., a graduate of Canon School in Concord, and daughter of Ariane Meira de Vasconcelos Liborio and Casimiro Jose de Sa Liborio;
• Tanner John Lockhead of Durham, N.C., a graduate of Charles E. Jordan Senior High School in Durham, and son of Julia and John Lockhead;
• Meghana Vakkalanka Rao of Florence, S.C., a graduate of Wilson High School in Florence, and daughter of Padmaja and Sreenivas Rao;
• Laura Katherine Winn of Stoneville, N.C., a graduate of John Motley Morehead High School in Eden, N.C., and the daughter of Janet and David Winn.

For more information about the incoming class of B.N. Duke Scholars, visit the scholarship's  website

For more information about Durham, NC, visit online.

Duke Announces Winners of A.B. Duke Scholarships

Eight high school seniors have won prestigious Angier B. Duke Memorial Scholarships, which are undergraduate merit awards to attend Duke University in Durham, NC.

The awards cover full tuition, room and board and mandatory fees for four years, as well as a six-week summer study program at the University of Oxford in England. Scholars are also offered up to $5,000 for research or other educational enrichment programs. Based on estimated tuition rates, a scholarship will be worth more than $200,000 to a student over a four-year period.

The scholarships are awarded to outstanding students who show promise of being intellectual leaders. The awards stem from the Angier B. Duke Memorial Inc., established in 1925 by university co-founder Benjamin Newton Duke in memory of his son, Angier Buchanan Duke.

The scholarship's alumni include 18 Rhodes Scholars and 13 Marshall Scholars, including the renowned writer/Duke English professor Reynolds Price, who passed away last year; Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Anne Tyler; NASA project scientist Hal Weaver; and Dr. Lynt Johnson, chief of transplant surgery at Georgetown University Medical Center.

This year's winners are:

• Thasos Athanasiou Athens of Davis, Calif., a graduate of Davis Senior High School, and son of Kiley and Kyriacos A. Athanasiou.
• Puja Bansal of Dix Hills, N.Y., a graduate of Half Hollow Hills High School East, and daughter of Archana Somani and Vipul Bansal.
• James Emery Ferencsik of Savannah, Ga., a graduate of St. Andrew’s School, and son of Beth Quigley and David Ferencsik.
• Grace Danting Li of Manvel, Texas, a graduate of Glenda Dawson High School, and daughter of Shixia Huang and Yi Li.
• Brody Donovan Kellish of Manlius, N.Y., a graduate of Cazenovia High School, and son of Sherry and Mark Kellish.
• Eli David Medvescek of Tucson, Ariz., a graduate of Waterford Kamhlaba UWC in Mbabane, Swaziland, and son of Christina and Ronald Medvescek.
• Connor Michael Phillips of Wexford, Pa., a graduate of North Allegheny Senior High School, and son of Jana Halloran Phillips and Russell James Phillips.
• Brittany Michelle Wenger of Sarasota, Fla., a graduate of The Out-of-Door Academy, and daughter of Cami and Jeff Wenger.

For more information about the A.B. Duke Memorial Scholarship, visit this site.

Find out more about  Durham, NC.

Duke to Award More Than 5,000 Degrees During Sunday's Commencement

Duke University will award more than 5,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees during its annual commencement ceremony Sunday, May 12, in Wallace Wade Stadium.

Duke President Richard H. Brodhead will preside over the 10 a.m. ceremony and philanthropist Melinda Gates, co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will deliver the commencement address. The event is open to the public.

The event will be webcast live on Duke's Ustream channel. Twitter users can follow commencement and contribute to the discussion using the Twitter hashtag #Duke2013.

The student speaker at commencement is Andrew Barnhill, a master’s degree candidate at Duke Divinity School with a focus on American law. Barnhill, a native of Wilmington, N.C., is chair of the Young Democrats of North Carolina for the state’s 7th Congressional District.

Gates also will receive an honorary degree during the ceremony. Other honorary degree recipients are human rights activist Marguerite “Maggy” Barankitse; immune system scientist Dr. Max Cooper; archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero; Harvard professor of African-American history and literature Henry Louis Gates; investment manager William H. (Bill) Gross; and choreographer Judith Jameson.

Aside from Sunday's commencement ceremony, Duke's graduation weekend May 10-12 will be filled with special events held by individual schools, departments and programs to recognize the 2013 graduates.

About 14,000 people are expected to visit the campus to attend the main commencement exercise and other ceremonies, according to Duke’s Office of Special Events and University Ceremonies, which oversees graduation weekend planning.

The Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau estimates the economic impact of graduation weekend on Durham -- through sales of food, hotel rooms, retail items, gasoline, car rentals and entertainment -- will be about $6.1 million, said Shelly Green, CEO of the Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau.

"Duke's graduation weekend has always been an important event for Durham," Green said. "The thousands of parents, friends and family members who attend leave a substantial economic impact on the community. Not only do the businesses and merchants reap the benefit, but local government does as well. Almost $300,000 in taxes collected will go to the City and County of Durham.”

The bureau's website has a regularly updated "lodging hotline" that allows visitors to see which hotels have available rooms during graduation weekend.

On Duke's campus, additional police officers and event staff will assist with traffic and parking. Free parking will be provided throughout campus on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Nearly all campus lots, including gated facilities, will be open, but some of the lots on the east side of Wallace Wade Stadium will be restricted. Parking is recommended in the lot on Frank Bassett Drive off Science Drive; the Science Drive visitors lot between Highway 751 and Towerview Drive; the lot at the corner of 751 and Science Drive; the Blue Zone lots on the east side of the stadium off Duke University Road; the parking garage on Science Drive near the Bryan Center; and the Chemistry and Circuit Drive lots, both accessible from Circuit Drive.

On Sunday, Duke Transportation will provide shuttle buses to Wallace Wade from area hotels, including the Millennium, the Durham Marriott at the Civic Center, the Courtyard (Comfort Inn guests can walk across the street to take the shuttle) and the Hilton (Quality Inn guests can walk across the parking lot to the shuttle). The shuttle service will begin at 8 a.m. Sunday and run every 20 minutes until 4 p.m.

The Washington Duke Inn and Golf Club has its own shuttle service beginning at 7 a.m. It will run until 1 p.m.

There will be accessible transportation from the lots adjacent to Wallace Wade for guests using wheelchairs and their families. Golf carts are available for transport from the parking lots to the entrances of Wallace Wade for those with mobility concerns.

There also will be campus bus service beginning at 8 a.m.

Speakers at other ceremonies include:

-- At 6 p.m. Friday, Paul Sweeney, senior analyst and North American head of Bloomberg Industries, will speak to The Fuqua School of Business' Master of Management Studies: Foundations of Business class, at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The ceremony is not open to the public, but will be webcast live on Fuqua’s YouTube channel.
-- At 9 a.m. Saturday, Sheikh Mohamed Althani, Qatar’s former minister for economy and commerce, will address graduates of The Duke MBA -- Cross Continent and Weekend Executive programs, at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The ceremony is not open to the public, but will be broadcast on Fuqua’s YouTube channel.

-- At 9 a.m. Saturday, David Yarnold, chief executive officer and president of the National Audubon Society, will give the address at the Nicholas School of the Environment’s Recognition Ceremony, on the Levine Science Research Center (LSRC) lawn. The ceremony is not open to the public.

-- At 10 a.m. Saturday, Duke alumna Mwila Chigaga, senior regional gender specialist for the International Labor Organization, will offer remarks at the Sanford School of Public Policy graduate student ceremony in Wilson Gym. The ceremony is open to the public.
-- At 1 p.m. Saturday, Gerald Hassell, chair and chief executive officer of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation and a Duke trustee, will offer remarks to graduates of The Duke MBA -- Daytime and Ph.D. programs, at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The ceremony is not open to the public, but will be broadcast on Fuqua’s YouTube channel.

-- At 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Donald Verrilli Jr., the U.S. solicitor general, will address graduates at the Law School's hooding ceremony, in Cameron Indoor Stadium. The ceremony is not open to the public. It will be broadcast live on Duke’s Ustream channel.

-- At 6:30 p.m. Saturday, J. Warren Smith, an associate professor of historical theology at Duke Divinity School, will deliver the 87th baccalaureate service to Divinity School graduates, in Duke Chapel. The service is open to the public and will be webcast live on the Duke Chapel YouTube channel.

Degrees to be conferred:
Degrees will be awarded to about 1,641 undergraduates and 2,215 graduate and professional students who are graduating this spring. An additional 1,212 students who graduated in September or December 2012 are also invited to participate in Sunday's commencement. The estimated degree breakdowns for the May graduates are as follows:

Undergraduate degrees:
-- Trinity College of Arts and Sciences -- A.B. 775; B.S. 509;
-- Pratt School of Engineering -- B.S.E. 290;
-- Nursing -- B.S.N. 67.

Graduate and Professional degrees:
-- Duke Divinity School -- M.Div. 133; Th.M. 6; M.T.S. 17; M.A.C.S. 8; Th.D. 1;
-- Fuqua School of Business -- M.B.A. 430; M.M.S. 107;
-- Graduate School -- M.A. 115; M.S. 122; M.A.T. 1; M.F.A. 15; Ph.D. 182;
-- School of Law -- J.D. 241; LL.M. 120; LL.M.L.E. 12; S.J.D. 1;
-- Nicholas School of the Environment -- M.E.M. 164; M.F. 2;
-- Pratt School of Engineering -- M.Eng.M. 61; M.Eng. 15;
-- Sanford School of Public Policy -- M.I.D.P. 27; M.P.P. 57;
-- School of Medicine -- M.D. 106; M.H.S. 85; M.H.S.-CR 21; M.H.S.-CL 5; D.P.T. 59; M.B.S.T. 13;
-- School of Nursing -- M.S.N. 54; D.N.P. 35.

For more information on Duke's commencement weekend, click here. For more information about Durham, click here.

David Rubenstein Commits $10 Million to Duke's Sanford School of Public Policy

More students will soon be able to participate in graduate fellowships and undergraduate internships in Durham thanks to a generous gift to Duke University.

Duke University trustee David M. Rubenstein is giving $10 million to the Sanford School of Public Policy to endow graduate fellowships and undergraduate internships, and to create a fund that will enhance the school’s engagement with the policy world, President Richard H. Brodhead announced Tuesday.

It is the largest single gift to Sanford and supports priorities of Duke Forward, the $3.25 billion fundraising campaign across Duke's 10 schools, Duke Medicine and a range of university programs.
"We are profoundly grateful to David Rubenstein for his continued generosity to Duke,” Brodhead said. "This gift reflects Duke’s highest priorities: It helps talented students afford a Duke education, it expands opportunities for students to apply their knowledge in service to society and it ensures that the Sanford School of Public Policy continues to contribute policy expertise toward addressing the world’s complex problems."

Of the gift, $6 million will be used to fund David M. Rubenstein Fellowships for Master of Public Policy (MPP) candidates at Sanford who have already demonstrated a commitment to public service through programs such as Teach for America, AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps. As part of their fellowships, graduate students through their teaching assistant commitments will mentor public policy undergraduates and spur their interest in public service.

Another $2 million will be used to fund internships for undergraduate public policy students who are required to complete a policy-related internship.

“Because many of our 575 majors cannot afford the costs of an internship,” said Sanford Dean Bruce Kuniholm, “they often do their internships in their home states, which doesn’t give them the opportunity to network in D.C., engage with the excitement of policymaking on a national level or go abroad. Paid internships also will open the way to exciting possibilities in public service they could not otherwise afford, before they make job decisions in their senior year.”

The final $2 million will create the David M. Rubenstein Dean’s Engagement and Impact Fund, which can be directed by the dean toward projects that will increase the impact and visibility of the work done by Sanford faculty and students.
Kelly Brownell, currently the James Rowland Angell Professor of Psychology at Yale University, will become Sanford’s next dean on July 1. His priorities for the fund will include enhancing the Duke in D.C. program and building programming that can help make the school’s resources and expertise more directly available to legislators and other policymakers.

“This major gift will be of enormous benefit to our students and the school,” said Kuniholm, who headed Sanford’s transition from institute to school over the last eight years, including the last four as dean. “It will make it possible for the best students to enroll in Sanford's MPP program and for undergraduates to have an internship experience that some could not otherwise afford.
“It also will help faculty and students realize Terry Sanford's dream of bridging the divide between academia and the policy world, enabling them to have greater visibility in, and impact on, ongoing policy debates,” Kuniholm said.

Named for Terry Sanford, the former Duke president and North Carolina governor and senator, the Sanford School offers wide-ranging programs on child and family policy, national security, international development and other issues facing society. The public policy major is one of the most popular among Duke undergraduates. Sanford’s master’s degree program in public policy is ranked among the country’s top 10 policy analysis programs.

Rubenstein donated $5.75 million in 2009 to Sanford to support environment and energy policy, internships and a distinguished speakers series. The gift helped Sanford meet a $40 million fundraising target for its transition from an institute to Duke's 10th school. In 2002, he contributed $5 million toward the completion of Sanford's Rubenstein Hall.

“I am excited and honored to support Sanford’s goal of producing scholars who will shape global public policy,” said Rubenstein, who graduated from Duke in 1970 and serves as vice chair of Duke’s Board of Trustees and as one of Duke Forward’s co-chairs. “I am eager to see the impact faculty and students will continue to make in this world under the leadership of the new dean.”

In the past year, Rubenstein has also committed $10 million to the Duke Athletics Department -- matching its largest gift -- and $15 million to serve as a catalyst for the university's Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative. In 2011, he gave $13.6 million to the Duke University Libraries in support of the Rare Book & Manuscript Library, which now bears his name. Altogether, Rubenstein has committed more than $50 million to Duke University.

A Baltimore native, Rubenstein is co-founder and managing director of The Carlyle Group, a global alternative asset manager. He is also an active civic leader and serves on numerous boards, including those of the Smithsonian Institution, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Chicago, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Kennedy Center and the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
Rubenstein and his wife, Alice Rogoff Rubenstein, have three children.

For more information about Durham's educational institutions, visit online.

Dr. Steven and Rebecca Scott Commit $20 Million to Duke Medicine

When it comes to health care, Durham, NC is considered among the best places in the US to come for top-notch care.  Among the six hospitals here is the Duke University Health System - and that system just got a lot healthier.

Dr. Steven Scott and his wife, Rebecca Scott, have committed $20 million to expand Duke’s sports medicine programs, including clinical and research program development, faculty recruitment and retention, and support for sports medicine training, as well as provide support for the Duke University School of Medicine.

Under the direction of Claude T. Moorman, M.D., Duke Sports Medicine currently comprises the Duke Sports Medicine Clinic, Duke Sports Medicine Physical Therapy, the Michael W. Krzyzewski Human Performance Lab and the Duke Sports Performance Program. It is a division of the Duke Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.

“Steve has worked closely with our sports medicine team to make a gift that will help build a multi-disciplinary program for athletes of all ages,” said Victor J. Dzau, M.D., chancellor for health affairs and president and CEO of the Duke University Health System. “This gift will be a catalyst for discovery and innovation, and we are very grateful to Steve and Becky.”

President Richard H. Brodhead said the gift will have a far-reaching effect.

“Steve and Becky Scott are wonderful partners with both Duke University and Duke Medicine,” Brodhead said. “This generous gift will allow our sports medicine program to grow to better serve athletes at Duke and beyond: our trainees will go on to advance research and care, while the research insights generated at Duke will have an impact on the field of sports medicine.”

Scott is a member of the Campaign Steering Committee for Duke Forward, the $3.25 billion university-wide fundraising campaign launched last September. He is also on the planning committee for “Medicine that Changes the World,” Duke Medicine’s $1.2 billion fundraising effort.

“I see a great opportunity for Duke Medicine to differentiate itself in sports medicine,” said Scott, a member of the Duke University Health System Board of Directors. “I truly believe Duke Orthopaedics is one of Duke’s signature programs, and I hope this gift will benefit both the department and Duke University School of Medicine.”

Leaders of Duke Sports Medicine said the Scotts’ gift would have a lasting impact on their program.
"The Scott Family has given us the resources through this gift to build the top sports medicine center in the country,” Moorman said. “It will allow us to integrate orthopaedic and primary care services with sports performance specialists, research scientists, sports psychology, sports nutrition and physical therapy, all to the advantage of our patients."

“Steve and Becky’s generous gift will enable Duke Sports Medicine to achieve its mission to assist athletes at all levels in reaching maximum performance,” added James R. Urbaniak, M.D., the Virginia Flowers Baker Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and former chair of orthopaedic surgery. “At Duke, we are fortunate to align world-class clinical specialists with championship athletic programs to achieve a level of excellence that benefits Duke Athletics, the medical center and the community.”

In October, Scott and his wife committed $10 million to Duke Athletics to help support the activities and programs in a new 35,000-square-foot building that will house ticket offices, a team store and training rooms. The gift was the largest ever to Duke Athletics at the time.

Steve Scott is the retired chairman of the medical investment company, Scott Holdings, LLC. He has nearly 35 years of experience in medicine and medical business. He also serves as an assistant consulting professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Duke University School of Medicine; president of the Scott Family Foundation; and a member of the Board of Trustees at the University of Florida. He is a member of the North Carolina Medical Society and the Florida Medical Association, among others.

He received a medical degree from Indiana University, completed internship and residency training at Duke University Medical Center from 1974-78 and is board certified in obstetrics and gynecology. He founded Coastal Physician Group (later named PhyAmerica), a company specializing in providing physicians and mid-level providers for emergency departments and other specialty services. Throughout the 1990s, he purchased several health maintenance organizations and eventually re-organized them into Florida Health Plan Administrators LLC/Vista Healthplan. Vista generated annual revenues of more than $1.2 billion and was sold to Coventry Health Care, Inc., in 2007.

Rebecca Scott is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro who went on to earn an allied health certificate in nurse anesthesiology from Duke in 1979. She served on the board of Durham Academy, The Hill Center and the Lucy Daniels Center for Early Childhood while the Scott family resided in Durham. After moving to south Florida, she served on the board of St. Andrew’s School in Boca Raton, where the three youngest Scott children graduated from its upper school.

The Scotts, who live in Boca Raton, have five children, including two who currently attend the Duke University School of Medicine.

For more information about Durham, NC click here.

Mad Materials, Strange Polymers, And Crazy Colloids Star in April 17 Duke Event

Astonishing materials, crazy chemistry and all things squishy and gooey are the stars of a family-friendly, hands-on evening of science hosted by the Triangle Materials Research Science and Engineering Center on Wednesday, April 17.

The event, which is open to the public, runs from 4:30-7:30 p.m. at Gross Hall on Duke University’s West Campus.

It will include a fun, science-filled presentation by Popular Science columnist Theo Gray, who is author of several books, including “Theo Gray’s Mad Science: Experiments You Can Do At Home – But Probably Shouldn’t.” Gray will demonstrate the exciting and surprising properties of many materials and chemicals we know and love.

Students and faculty from Duke and N.C. State will lead hands-on demonstrations focused on the unique behavior of many materials, especially “soft matter.” Kids and adults can make and play with fun polymers, learn about next generation soft materials and chat with all of the “mad scientists.”

Parking is available in the chemistry parking lot at the corner of Circuit Drive and Tower View.
The event is part of the statewide North Carolina Science Festival being held April 5 to 21. For more information on this event and the NC Science Festival, click here.

For more great Durham events, visit the Durham Event Calendar.

Bill Adair, PolitiFact Editor, Named Knight Professor at Duke

Durham is full of very smart, award-winning professionals. Soon it will add one more.

Bill Adair, creator and editor of PolitiFact, the Pulitzer-Prize-winning website of the Tampa Bay Times, has been appointed the Knight Professor of Computational Journalism at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy.

“Bill Adair is a terrific hire for Sanford and Duke, and he follows a long line of endowed chairs in communications, including David Broder, Alex Jones, Susan Tifft, Bill Raspberry, Sarah Cohen and Phil Bennett,” said Bruce Kuniholm, dean of the Sanford School. “His track record demonstrates his capacity to develop a vision of how good journalism can survive and continue to play the crucial role it does in crafting public policy. He has a spirit of engagement that will make him extraordinarily likeable and effective as a teacher and mentor to students.”

“I think he'll be an outstanding Knight chair,” added professor James T. Hamilton, director of Duke’s Dewitt Wallace Center for Media and Democracy, who led the search committee. “I believe that he'll develop tools, including more mobile apps, that will help journalists discover stories, and readers find them, in ways that make accountability journalism more likely to survive.”

Adair, 51, will join the faculty July 1 as a professor of the practice of journalism and public policy. He said he is “excited about this wonderful opportunity and very honored to have been selected.”

“Bill is a digital journalist with the courage to set audacious goals and take big risks,” said Eric Newton, senior adviser to the president at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, which funded the chair endowment. “He understands the urgent need to try new things, learn, and try again.”

Launched by the Times in 2007, PolitiFact quickly became a go-to source for assessing the accuracy of politicians’ claims during the 2008 campaign. Its distinctive Truth-O-Meter rates officials’ public statements on a scale ranging from “True” to “Pants On Fire” -- “not just false, but ridiculously false,” Adair said. Two years after its creation, the site won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting. PolitiFact also has affiliates in 10 states and a partnership with Hearst Television, and has inspired fact-checking sites in France, Norway and Sweden, among other countries.

In addition, Adair oversaw the creation of mobile iPhone/Android apps for fact-checking, including “Settle It! PolitiFact’s Argument Ender,” which was developed with support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The position at Duke will allow him to continue developing similar projects, Hamilton said.

Adair began as the newspaper’s Washington bureau chief in 2004, having been a Washington reporter covering national politics, Congress, presidential campaigns, the Florida delegation and aviation safety since 1997. Previously he covered the airline industry, politics, and local and national transportation for the paper in the Tampa Bay area. In 2002, he published “The Mystery of Flight 427: Inside a Crash Investigation,” about the crash of a US Air plane near Pittsburgh.

In addition to the Pulitzer, PolitiFact has won the Knight-Batten Award for Innovations in Journalism (in 2008 and 2009). Adair has won the Manship Prize for New Media in Democratic Discourse and the Everett Dirksen Award for Distinguished Coverage of Congress.

He is also an adjunct faculty member at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla. He will remain a contributing editor at PolitiFact.

At Duke, Adair plans to explore and experiment with new forms of journalism and reinventing the news for the digital age. Media have for the most part taken old forms and “pasted them into pixels,” Adair said. Instead, “I’d like to continue experimenting with things that really take the power of the web and mobile devices in presenting information in new ways.”

Adair will teach two courses in the fall, including a required course in the Media Policy Certificate program, “News as Moral Battleground” in which he will focus on plagiarism, fabrication and off-the record sourcing in news. The other, a new course, will concern the White House and the presidency in a new media age.

The Knight Chair at Duke was established in 1990 by a gift from the Knight Foundation, which has established two dozen endowed chairs in journalism at top universities nationwide to teach innovative classes, create experimental projects and new programs and help lead journalism excellence in the digital age.

Adair follows Sarah Cohen, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporter and expert on computer-assisted investigative journalism, in the Knight Chair at Duke. While at Duke (2009-12), Cohen led the creation of the Reporters’ Lab, an online forum for journalism innovation.

Learn more about all Durham has to offer online.

Duke Alumnus Sen. 'Mo' Cowan to Keynote 50th Anniversary Event April 13

 U.S. Sen. William "Mo" Cowan of Massachusetts will deliver the keynote address at an event commemorating 50 years of black undergraduate students at Duke University. Cowan, a 1991 Duke graduate, is originally from North Carolina.

The event will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 13, in Page Auditorium, during Duke's Reunion Weekend. It is free and open to the public, although tickets are required. Tickets are free when picked up in person at the Duke Box Office. If tickets are ordered online, a $6 online service charge applies. Light refreshments will be served in the Great Hall on West Campus following the address.

Free parking is available in the H Parking Lot (corner of Anderson and Yearby). Free shuttle service will be provided from the lot to Page Auditorium from 12:30 to 5:30 p.m. Overflow seating will be available in Griffith Theater in the Bryan Center.

Those unable to attend can watch a live stream of the event on the university's Ustream channel, ustream.tv/duke-university. Viewers can post comments on Twitter using the hashtag #Duke50th. An archive of the recording will also be posted online.

A public reception launching the nine-month commemoration of Duke's first black students was cancelled in January due to bad weather and dangerous road conditions. Nearly 700 people had registered for that event.

Cowan's talk will highlight the contributions of Duke's African-American community -- students, alumni, faculty and staff. The three surviving members of the first class of black undergraduate students are expected to attend, as will several of the first students to integrate the university's graduate and professional schools.

"As a proud alumnus, it's an honor to be a part of acknowledging Duke University's outstanding effort to cultivate a diverse community for their students both inside and outside of the classroom. But of even deeper importance and measure of personal gratitude is the opportunity to celebrate the courage and strength of the young men and women who joined that first integrated class in 1963," Cowan said. "I am excited to return to Durham to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first black students at Duke. They paved the way for the young black men and women who followed them, and their burden has been my gain."

Cowan, a Yadkinville, North Carolina native and 1991 Duke alumnus with a bachelor's degree in sociology, was recently sworn in as a U.S. senator representing Massachusetts, filling John Kerry's vacant seat. His interim term ends June 25. He is the first African-American to represent Massachusetts in the U.S. Senate since 1978.

Cowan is the former chief of staff to Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick. After Duke, Cowan received his J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law and practiced civil litigation as an associate and later as a partner in the Boston office of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.

"We are very excited to welcome Senator Cowan back to Duke for this very meaningful event. His lifelong commitment to public service is an inspiration to current and future generations of Duke students," said Michael Schoenfeld, Duke's vice president of public affairs and government relations and co-chair of Duke's 50th anniversary committee.

For information about the nine-month commemoration of Duke's first black students, click here. For more details about other Reunion Weekend events, click here.

Duke Offers Admission to 2,929 High School Seniors

More than 2,900 high school seniors from across the country and around the world can go online at 6 p.m. Wednesday (today) to learn that they have been accepted to Durham's prestigious Duke University.

A record 31,785 students applied for admission this year -- several hundred more than last year. Of that number, 2,929 students -- 9.9 percent of the Regular Decision applicant pool -- will receive a notice of acceptance today inviting them to become members of the Class of 2017. These students have until May 1 to make their final decision.

In December, 753 students were admitted under the university's binding Early Decision program, 105 more than the year before.

"This is the first time our Regular Decision admit rate ended up below 10 percent, and it made for some difficult choices," said Christoph Guttentag, dean of undergraduate admissions. "The accomplishments and personal qualities of the students applying for admission are just exceptional, and as pleased as I am for what it means for Duke, I’m sorry that we don’t have room for more of these wonderful young women and men."

“The increase in the number of students admitted under our Early Decision program left fewer places in the class for our Regular Decision applicants, and it made choosing the best mix of students challenging for all of us," Guttentag added.

Duke's admissions policy is "need blind" for U.S. citizens and permanent residents, meaning applicants are accepted regardless of their ability to pay for college. Duke also meets 100 percent of demonstrated financial need for all admitted students.

“We are in a fortunate position, where we in the admissions office are able to make our decisions independent of family’s financial circumstances, knowing that the financial aid office will make Duke an affordable option for everyone we’re able to admit,” Guttentag said.

All admitted students are invited to campus for Blue Devil Days, which provides the opportunity for students and their parents to discuss Duke's offerings with faculty and administrators, attend classes and tour Duke's campus, as well as the chance to get acquainted with other members of the Class of 2017. This year, the two-day event will be held at three different times: April 8-9, April 14-15 and April 18-19.

All students will be able to receive their decisions online, but only those students who are admitted will receive mailed letters. Students who are placed on the waiting list or denied will be sent printed letters on request, or if they have not viewed their decision online within 72 hours. For the third year in a row, students will be able to reply online to offers of admission or the opportunity to be placed on the waiting list.

For more information about Durham, North Carolina, visit www.durham-nc.com.

‘Reverse Rhodes Scholarship’ Established for Engineering

Durham, NC is a place with many diverse cultural opportunities and people, attributes driven, in part, by the two universities here.  Today, Duke University made an announcement that will give top engineers from across the world will a new reason to come and study here.

Duke and North Carolina State universities, along with six other U.S. institutions, today announced the establishment of a new scholarship program designed to bring international graduate students to the U.S. to further their research.

The program, known as the Vest Scholarships, is named after the outgoing National Academy of Engineering (NAE) President Charles M. Vest. The announcement was made at the inaugural Global Grand Challenges Summit (GGCS) in London. The new scholarship program will foster international collaborations among graduate students whose studies are focused on tackling some of the world’s biggest challenges.

Participating universities are conducting research toward addressing the NAE Grand Challenges for Engineering™, 14 “game-changing” goals with the potential to dramatically improve life in the 21st century, as identified by a blue-ribbon committee of leading technological thinkers and doers. The challenges are also the inspiration for the GGCS.

In addition to Duke and NC State, the schools participating are the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Olin College, University of Southern California, University of Washington, Illinois Institute of Technology, and MIT.

“This is like a reverse Rhodes Scholarship,” said Tom Katsouleas, dean of Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering. “It gives select international graduate students the opportunity to pursue potentially world-changing ideas at top U.S. universities.

“We hope that the Vest Scholarships will grow and become a highly valued platform for international collaboration -- specifically that the students will carry the pollen of potent ideas from continent to continent with them and back again, strengthening international relationships in order to advance progress in some of our most critical global challenges,” Katsouleas said.

In the first year, students from schools attending the Global Grand Challenges Summit will be eligible to apply for the scholarships. In later years, the program will be expanded to additional schools. Students who are chosen will receive an expense-paid year to pursue research opportunities related to the grand challenges at one of those institutions.

“The grand challenges can’t be met by one group of people in one field. Finding the right solutions requires a focused, global effort that brings together people from different disciplines and backgrounds to develop new ideas,” said Louis Martin-Vega, dean of the College of Engineering at NC State. “By linking some of the world's top graduate students with leading U.S. researchers, the Vest Scholarships will be an important part of this collaborative effort.”

For more information about Durham, visit this website.