44 Facts About Duke University

1.

Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina.

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2.

Duke University is ranked among the top universities in the United States and in the world by major publications.

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3.

Duke University spends more than $1 billion per year on research, making it one of the ten largest research universities in the United States.

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4.

Duke University is the alma mater of one president of the United States and 14 living billionaires.

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5.

Duke University first opened in 1838 as Brown's Schoolhouse, a private subscription school founded in Randolph County, North Carolina, in the present-day town of Trinity.

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6.

At first, James B Duke thought the name change would come off as self-serving, but eventually, he accepted Few's proposal as a memorial to his father.

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7.

In 1903 Washington Duke University wrote to the board of trustees withdrawing the provision, noting that it had been the only limitation he had ever put on a donation to the college.

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8.

Duke University Hospital was finished in 1980 and the student union building was fully constructed two years later.

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9.

In 2014, Duke removed the name of Charles B Aycock, a white-supremacist governor of North Carolina, from an undergraduate dormitory.

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10.

Duke University Chapel stands at the center of West Campus on the highest ridge.

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11.

From February 2001 to November 2005, Duke University spent $835 million on 34 major construction projects as part of a five-year strategic plan, "Building on Excellence.

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12.

Duke University Hospital is a 957-acute care bed academic tertiary care facility located in Durham, North Carolina.

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13.

In December 2016, Duke University purchased an apartment complex, now known as 300 Swift.

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14.

Duke University Forest is used extensively for research and includes the Aquatic Research Facility, Forest Carbon Transfer and Storage research facility, two permanent towers suitable for micrometeorological studies, and other areas designated for animal behavior and ecosystem study.

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15.

Sarah P Duke Gardens, established in the early 1930s, is situated between West Campus and Central Campus.

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16.

Duke University Allen Building was the site of student protest in the late 1960s.

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17.

Duke University has 12 schools and institutes, three of which host undergraduate programs: Trinity College of Arts and Sciences, Pratt School of Engineering, and Duke Kunshan University.

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18.

Duke University has "historical, formal, ongoing, and symbolic ties" with the United Methodist Church, but is a nonsectarian and independent institution.

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19.

Duke University is a leading participant in the National Lambda Rail Network and runs a program for gifted children known as the Talent Identification Program.

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20.

From 2001 to 2011, Duke University has had the sixth highest number of Fulbright, Rhodes, Truman, and Goldwater scholarships in the nation among private universities.

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21.

About 50 percent of all Duke University students receive some form of financial aid, which includes need-based aid, athletic aid, and merit aid.

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22.

Duke University is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity".

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23.

Duke University has pioneered studies involving nonlinear dynamics, chaos, and complex systems in physics.

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24.

In May 2006 Duke University researchers mapped the final human chromosome, which made world news as it marked the completion of the Human Genome Project.

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25.

The graduate program in literature boasts several internationally renowned figures, including Fredric Jameson, Michael Hardt, and Rey Chow, while philosophers Robert Brandon and Lakatos Award-winner Alexander Rosenberg contribute to Duke University's ranking as the nation's best program in philosophy of biology, according to the Philosophical Gourmet Report.

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26.

Duke University was ranked 28th best globally by the Academic Ranking of World Universities in 2019, focusing on quality of scientific research and the number of Nobel Prizes.

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27.

Duke University ranked 34th in the world and 12th in the country on Times Higher Educations global employability ranking in 2021.

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28.

In 2018, Duke enrolled 106 National Merit Scholars, the 19th university in rank by number.

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29.

In 2007, Duke was ranked 22nd in the world by Wuhan University's Research Center for Chinese Science Evaluation.

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30.

In 2013, Duke University Law ranked sixth in Forbes magazine's ranking of law schools whose graduates earn the highest starting salaries.

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31.

Duke University requires its students to live on campus for the first three years of undergraduate life, except for a small percentage of second-semester juniors who are exempted by a lottery system.

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32.

The first historically African American Greek letter organization at Duke University was the Omega Psi Phi, Omega Zeta chapter, founded on April 12, 1974.

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33.

Duke University has Selective Living Groups, or SLGs, on campus for students seeking informal residential communities often built around themes.

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34.

In March 2006, the university purchased 15 houses in the Trinity Park area that Duke students had typically rented and subsequently sold them to individual families in an effort to encourage renovations to the properties and to reduce off-campus partying in the midst of residential neighborhoods.

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35.

Duke University's students have been recognized as some of the most creative and original fans in all of collegiate athletics.

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36.

Duke University has a "bench-burning" tradition that involves bonfires after certain basketball victories.

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37.

The Duke University Union is the school's primary programming organization, serving a center of social, cultural, intellectual and recreational life.

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38.

Duke University has 37 sports clubs, and several intramural teams that are officially recognized.

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39.

The Duke University Student Dining Advisory Committee provides guidance to the administration on issues regarding student dining, life, and restaurant choices.

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40.

Duke University students have created more than 30 service organizations in Durham and the surrounding area.

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41.

Some courses at Duke University incorporate service as part of the curriculum to augment material learned in class such as in psychology or education courses.

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42.

Duke University Alumni Association is an alumni association automatically available to all Duke University graduates.

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43.

Duke University's teams have won 17 NCAA team national championships—the women's golf team has won seven, the men's basketball team has won five (1991, 1992, 2001, 2010, and 2015), the men's lacrosse team has won three (2010, 2013, and 2014), and the men's soccer (1986) and women's tennis (2009) teams have won one each.

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44.

Duke University's teams won World Championship gold in 2010 and 2014.

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