Looking Back at the Year at Duke, 2017
2017 was a momentous year for Duke University, with new leadership, international initiatives, academic plans and opportunities for the arts and other disciplines. Below is a selection of some of the highlights from the year.
Campus: Welcome, President Vincent Price
Installing President Vincent Price was more than a change of leadership for Duke. It was an opportunity to restate university values, look back at its history, look ahead to its future and to throw a great party. From the rides and local food at the pre-inauguration student party on East Campus to the grand installation ceremony itself on Abele Quad, the university community made every moment count.
In his inauguration address, Price thanked his predecessors and new colleagues at Duke for establishing a university that had a strong record of innovative learning and service and pledged that under his leadership Duke will again “answer the challenges of the day.”
“Our new century calls for a university audacious and visionary enough to fundamentally redefine learning and teaching in higher education,” he said. “I believe Duke can and will be that university.”
Other Campus Highlights
- University Fights Federal DACA/Immigration Orders
- Samuel Dubois Cook Dies, Was Duke’s First African-American Scholar
- Gabrielle Stewart Named Duke’s 46th Rhodes Scholar
- Duke Begins Engagement With Memory and History Issues
- Duke Forward Raises $3.85 Billion to Empower Service to Society
Academics: ‘Together Duke’ a Plan to Support Human Capital
In the university’s first strategic plan since 2006, “Together Duke” looked inward to focus on initiatives that put additional resources into supporting faculty, students and staff and getting the programs already on campus working together in new and more effective ways.
The university’s overarching vision for the next decade is to "grow, connect and empower diverse and inclusive communities of excellence to enhance the creation, delivery and translation of knowledge for a rapidly changing world,” said Provost Sally Kornbluth.
Created after hundreds of hours of discussion among the academic members of the Duke community, the plan presented a blueprint for an initial investment of around $132 million in new money. The bulk of that will go to support faculty and construction of new science facilities.
Other Academic Highlights
- Spring Breakthrough Presents Students a Chance to Explore
- David Rubenstein Endows Program for Exceptional First-Generation, Low-Income Students
- First Student Undergraduate Thesis Written in Creole
- Civil Justice Clinic Develops Program to Help Stem Durham Evictions Tide
- A Quantitative Investment in Promoting the Sciences at Duke
Books: Nancy MacLean ‘Cracks the Code’
Of all the books written this year by Duke scholars, the one that received the most attention – and the most controversy – was historian Nancy MacLean’s study of the growth of the so-called "radical right" in the United States and the role of noted economist James McGill Buchanan.
“Democracy in Chains” was a finalist for the National Book Award. Whereas other books on the topic emphasized the role of money, MacLean was looking for an intellectual history of the movement, which led her to Buchanan, a Nobel Laureate whose research explored how government acts in its own self-interest.
MacLean found that Buchanan’s libertarian notions of limited government went far beyond traditional conservatism. His writing, she said, became a playbook for a racially tinged movement that is reshaping American politics.
Other Book Highlights
- Tim Tyson Breaks New Ground on the Emmett Till Case
- Ed Balleisen on Fraud, From Barnum to Madoff
- Law Professors and Cartoonist Explore a Long History of Musical Borrowing
- Alex Harris and Margaret Sartor Take Readers Inside Reynolds Price’s House
- Policy Shock: How Governments Can Do Disaster Better
Research: A Civil War Mystery Resolved
What sunk the H.L. Hunley? Investigators have sought an answer since the Confederate submarine sunk in combat in 1864. This year, a recent Pratt School graduate has found an answer.
Rachel Lance, a 2016 Ph.D. graduate of Duke Engineering and an expert in underwater explosions, conducted experiments that convincingly point to the likelihood that the Hunley and its eight-man crew were sunk by the same bomb they used to sink a Union ship.
Lance says the crew died instantly from the force of the explosion. She says the crippled sub then drifted out on a falling tide and slowly took on water before sinking.
Other Research Highlights
- Bonobos Help Strangers Without Being Asked
- Modest Personality Trait Intellectual Humility Packs Punch
- Poaching Drives 80 Percent Decline in Elephants in Key Preserve
- Sandy Darity on How Economic Inequality Holds Back the Economy
- Rush Hour Pollution May Be More Dangerous Than You Think
- Beating Heart Patch is Large Enough to Repair the Human Heart
- How the Brands Our Partners Choose Can Make Us Miserable
- The Most Visually Stunning Science Stories of 2017 (video)
Medicine: The Problem with Fever in Early Pregnancy
Duke researchers now have evidence to suggest that fever, not its root source, could interfere with the development of the heart and jaw during the first three to eight weeks of pregnancy. The research offers a pathway to new treatments that might prevent heart defects and facial deformities such as cleft lip or palate.
Researchers have known since the early 1980s that fevers are associated with birth defects, but how that was happening has been a mystery.
“My hope is that right now, as women are planning to become pregnant and their doctors advise them to start taking prenatal vitamins and folic acid, their doctor also informs them if they get a fever, they should not hesitate to call and consider taking a fever reducer, specifically acetaminophen (Tylenol), which has been studied extensively and determined to be safe during the first trimester,” said Dr. Eric Benner.
Other Medical Highlights
- Gene Therapy for Pompe Disease Effective in Mice, Poised for Human Trials
- Proteins in Your Runny Nose Could Reveal a Viral Infection
- Immunotherapy for Glioblastoma Well Tolerated; Survival Gains Observed
- Lab Tests Show Molecule Appears to Spur Cell Death in Tumors, Inflammation
- A Quarter of Problematic Pot Users Have Anxiety Disorders
Arts: A Beautiful New Venue Is Ready
A long-needed facility highlights the role of the arts in the campus academic and social life is ready to open Jan. 8.
The Rubenstein Arts Center – set across from the Nasher Museum of Art – will house the programs in dance and arts of the moving image, as well as be a venue for public arts programs, student rehearsals and events.
“The Rubenstein Arts Center brings the arts to the center of academic inquiry and campus life,” said Vice Provost for the Arts Scott Lindroth. “We now have a platform to truly innovate arts education at Duke.”
The new facility -- nicknamed "The Ruby" -- solves significant space needs at Duke. In addition to accommodating the programs in dance and the arts of the moving image, the arts center features flexible studio space available to the Duke community.
Other Arts Highlights
- Caroline Bruzelius Is Retiring, But She Leaves Behind a Legacy of Using Technology to Teach Art History
- How Duke Performances Connects Students with Professional Artists
- The MFA in Experimental and Documentary Arts Turns Five
- Esther Gabara’s Curated Exhibition, Coming Soon to the Nasher, Wins Sotheby’s Prize
- Duke Musicians Christopher Jacobson & Ninth Wonder Pick Up Grammy Nominations
Global: Duke Kunshan University’s Undergraduate Program Moves Forward
In 2017, Chinese officials approved the launching of a four-year undergraduate program at the Duke Kunshan University campus, beginning in August 2018.
Teams of Duke faculty and administrators have worked on curriculum, financial and facilities plans for more than two years and built a new faculty from scratch. Duke Kunshan will initially offer eight undergraduate majors designed to equip students for either further study or immediate employment in settings where they will be expected to draw on knowledge from multiple fields to succeed.
The university has offered several master’s degree programs since 2014.
Other Global Highlights
- New Malaria Elimination Agenda Stresses Need for Innovation, Integration
- New Duke Project to Address Energy Needs of World's Poor
- Fighting to Save Some of the World’s Most Endangered Species
- Re-inventing the Toilet to Improve Sanitation in the Developing World
- Pratt Pouch Made a Dent in Childhood HIV
- Women Gain Access to Low-Cost Cervical Cancer Screenings
- New Center Aims to Improve Global Food Policy
Athletics: Four Games, Four Days, One ACC Title
It’s not unexpected for the Duke men’s basketball team to win the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament. But how they did it in 2017 certainly was surprising.
The Blue Devils became the first team to win four games in four days in the ACC Tournament, defeating Notre Dame 75-69 for its 20th ACC title.
Duke began the year ranked No. 1 in the polls, but the young team went through a season that saw both highs and lows. Coach Mike Krzyzewski said throughout the uneven play, the team always played together. "They've been through so much, so they're close," said Krzyzewski following the title game. "That closeness is what got them through tonight."