Durham, NC - In honoring the teamwork and diversity awards, President Richard H. Brodhead said the honors paid tribute to two virtues that were essential to a great university.

"Once was a time that we thought teamwork was for athletes and diversity was something associated with administrators from certain offices. If that ever was true, it certainly isn't now," Brodhead said. "These virtues have been foundational to the university and essential to what we do at Duke."

Teamwork Award

Duke Engage

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Clinical Research Committee Team

Led by Dr. Michael Cuffe, vice president for medical affairs at the health system, the group created new policies, procedures and infrastructure for the conduct of clinical research on humans at the School of Medicine and the health system.

The results have been numerous, said Dr. Victor Dzau, chancellor for health affairs. The new processes reduce the risk for patient billing errors, ensure better documentation and promote efficiency in the collection and use of this important research data.

"The project was transformative," Cuffe said. "It changed the way we do human clinical research at Duke."

Diversity Awards

Dr. Delbert Wigfall

Associate Professor of Pediatrics Dr. Delbert Wigfall has more than two decades of experience teaching and mentoring students at Duke. In his work as the physician director of the Multicultural Resource Center, on the medical school admissions committee, as a recruiter of pediatric residents and in his mentoring, Wigfall has had a profound influence in promoting a diverse culture at the university.

Wigfall said his work was influenced by his upbringing in the South during the early days of the Civil Rights movement, and he invited his mother to the ceremony to pay tribute to her.

"I have been privileged to work with a great many gifted students and engage them in difficult questions of diversity -- helping them to understanding their blessings and put aside bias and prejudice to become the most caring physician they can be," Wigfall said.

Gregory F. Duncan

Divinity School Associate Dean of Student Service Gregory Duncan likewise has spent two decades at Duke working to make Duke to a more caring and diverse place.

His efforts include Project BRI(DDD)GE, which is a week-long, pre-orientation program for divinity students that promotes outreach efforts into Durham. He also founded the school's Ubuntu group, students who meet weekly to discuss the effects of race and racism on their daily lives.

In his remarks, Duncan paid tribute to "the ancestors of my faith tradition, a community that shaped me and taught me that by faith the Christian discipline means being about reconciliation," he said.