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Bullock to Retire from Duke Kunshan University

Mary Bullock has served as the joint venture university’s chief academic and administrative officer since 2012

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Mary Brown Bullock

Mary Brown Bullock, the founding executive vice chancellor of Duke Kunshan University (DKU), will retire from her post in summer 2015. She has served as the joint venture university’s chief academic and administrative officer since 2012, overseeing two years of preparation, faculty and staff recruitment, and the opening of the campus and first year of academic operations at the university in Kunshan, China.Bullock is a scholar of U.S.-China relations. She plans to continue her engagement with higher education and U.S.-China relations in her role as vice chair of the Asia Foundation, as a member of the Schwarzman Scholars Academic Advisory Council, and as a director of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations and of the Henry Luce Foundation.  “This has been an incredibly rewarding experience for me, both personally and professionally,” Bullock said. “I am so proud of what we have created here in Kunshan, and while it will be hard to step away, I look forward to watching the university continue to grow and flourish.”A search for Bullock’s successor will begin immediately, said DKU Board of Trustees Chair Peter Lange, who praised Bullock’s achievements during her tenure at DKU. “We are so grateful for the leadership and vision Mary has provided for DKU,” said Lange. “She and Chancellor Liu Jingnan have been an extraordinary team, guiding DKU through its final approval and first year of classes, and bringing this new university to life. We will greatly miss her wise counsel and thoughtful leadership.”Since completing a Ph.D. in Chinese history at Stanford in the early 1970s, Bullock has devoted her career to fostering intellectual exchange between the United States and China. She has served in leadership roles at the National Academy of Sciences and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and is the author of three books on U.S.-China relations.  Bullock served as president of Agnes Scott College from 1995 until 2006, implementing a strategic plan that increased the faculty and student body and transformed the historic campus with a $125 million building program. “Mary and I have a shared passion for innovation in higher education and a commitment to providing students with transformative international learning experiences,” said Liu. “She has made great contributions to this young university, and has set a high standard for her successor to follow.”Duke Provost Sally Kornbluth and the DKU Board of Trustees have appointed a committee of Duke faculty members to nominate candidates for the executive vice chancellor position. The search committee members are:-- Randall Kramer, committee chair, professor of environmental economics and global health in the Nicholas School of the Environment, and deputy director of the Duke Global Health Institute -- Susan C. Alberts, professor of biology -- William F. Boulding, dean of the Fuqua School of Business and J.B. Fuqua professor of business administration-- Rey Chow, Anne Firor Scott professor of literature and director of the Program in Literature-- Marc Deshusses, professor of civil and environmental engineering, research professor of global health, and director of the Energy Engineering Degree Program in the Pratt School of Engineering-- William A. Johnson, professor of classical studies-- Lisa A. Keister, Gilhuly Family professor of sociology-- Emerson S. Niou, professor of political science-- Kenneth C. Rogerson, associate professor of the practice in the Sanford School of Public Policy and director of undergraduate studies in the Sanford School -- Shenglan Tang, professor of medicine and global health, associate director for DKU and China initiatives in the Duke Global Health Institute, and director of the DKU Global Health Research Center-- Erika S. Weinthal, Lee Hill Snowdon professor of environmental policy and associate dean for international programs at the Nicholas School of the Environment.

-- Jim Dobbins (ex officio), director, Medical Physics Graduate Program and professor of radiology, biomedical engineering, and physics

-- Bill Kirby (ex officio), T.M. Chang professor of China studies and Spangler Family professor of business administration at Harvard Business School; Harvard University distinguished service professor, and chairman, Harvard China Fund

-- Jim Roberts (ex officio), executive vice provost for finance and administration