247 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(04/03/14 11:41pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The University announced a $1.9 million gift Thursday from David Rubenstein, Trinity '70, to go towards enhancing Jewish life on campus.The donation will be used to expand programming and fund renovations of the Freeman Center for Jewish Life, according to a Duke News press release. Rubenstein, current chair of the Board of Trustees, is co-chair of the Duke Forward capital campaign.
(04/02/14 9:51am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Duke junior Eugene Rabinovich was announced as a recipient of the Goldwater Scholarship Tuesday. Rabinovich is one of 283 students to be awarded the scholarship this year from a pool of more than 1,100 applicants. An Angier B. Duke Memorial Scholar from Solon, Ohio, he is double majoring in physics and mathematics and minoring in music. "The things that I've accomplished have already been done, so it's just an extra, nice thing that someone else recognizes it," Rabinovich said.Rabinovich was a 2013 PRUV Fellow through Duke's department of mathematics. In high school, he was a member of the U.S. Physics Team and took second place in the World Piano Competition, performing twice at Carnegie Hall.The scholarship provides up to $7,500 for undergraduate tuition, books, fees and room and board for students pursuing the natural sciences, engineering and math.Because the A.B. Duke scholarship covers tuition and room and board, Rabinovich will probably not receive the full amount of money that can accompany the scholarship, he said. But he does not feel that this lessens the extent of the honor, he added."The name by itself still helps very much with my future," he said. Rabinovich said he hopes to attend graduate school in either physics or math and to ultimately become a professor and researcher. He is currently researching string theory with associate professor of physics Ronan Plesser, focusing on understanding physical models of string theory through the use of similar, non-physical models."Eugene is uncommonly talented and driven," Plesser said in a Duke News press release. "He is among the two or three most promising students I have seen in 16 years here, and I feel confident he will make real contributions to our field."This is the second consecutive year that a Duke physics major has received the scholarship, as senior Kushal Seetharam—also an A.B. Duke scholar—was named a Goldwater scholar last year. There have been 63 Duke recipients of the scholarship since 1995.
(03/27/14 6:37pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The regular decision acceptance rate for the Class of 2018 is a record low 9 percent.At 7 p.m. today, admissions results were released to the 29,300 applicants who applied regular decision to Duke—and for 2,640 of them, the news was positive. An additional 57 students who were deferred from the early decision process were accepted.
(03/27/14 9:53am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The University received a $10 million donation to help fund the ongoing renovations to West Union Wednesday.The donation was given by the Crown family—including Board of Trustees member Paula Hannaway Crown, Trinity '80—and will be used to "create opportunities for social and intellectual interaction" in the renovated union, according to a Duke News press release. The donation comes after Executive Vice President Tallman Trask said the University would be using private philanthropic gifts to help fund the West Union renovations in an interview with The Chronicle March 2. "A university thrives when it offers inviting spaces for faculty and students to gather and connect in a host of programmed and unprogrammed ways," President Richard Brodhead said in the press release. "This thoughtful gift, at the heart of Duke's campus, is truly a gift for the entire Duke community. We are grateful to the Crown family for their generosity and vision."Plans for the renovations have gone through a number of iterations over the past year. The remodel is being funded in large part by an $80 million donation that the University received from the Charlotte-based Duke Endowment in 2011—intended to supply funds for renovations to Baldwin Auditorium and Page Auditorium, as well as West Union. The current plans for the West Union, however, exceed the original allotted amount for all three renovation projects.Vice President and University Secretary Richard Riddell said the overall projected cost of the West Union renovations is currently $95 million in a previous interview with The Chronicle. The Board of Trustees passed a resolution at their March meeting to release only $40.3 million of the $95 million until funding was reassessed at their next meeting in May.The remodel of Baldwin totaled $15 million and finished shortly before the start of the 2013-14 academic year. Work on West Union was originally slated to begin after commencement in May 2013, but the Board of Trustees rejected the plans presented to them at their May meeting—renovations totaling more than $100 million, The Chronicle previously reported.Construction began on West Union July 2013 and is set to finish in Spring 2016. The new union will feature a variety of dining venues, student gathering areas and multipurpose spaces.The other contributors of the $10 million donation are Paula Crown's husband, Jim Crown, his brother A. Steven Crown and Steven's wife, Nancy Crown. Steven and Nancy Crown are the parents of Keating, Trinity '00, and Connor, Trinity '13.The extent of the renovations to Page is yet to be seen, but they will be "largely cosmetic," Trask said. He noted that the projects are being partially funded by private, philanthropic gifts to cover the difference between the original $80 million donation and the total cost of West Union and Page renovations.Danielle Muoio contributed to reporting.
(03/26/14 9:14am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When Donna Lisker leaves Duke to become dean of the college and vice president for campus life at Smith College this summer, she will continue to establish a legacy of encouraging female leadership.Lisker has spent 15 years at Duke, serving as director of the Women's Center from 1999 to 2007 and associate vice provost for undergraduate education for the past seven years. She additionally works as co-director of the Baldwin Scholars, a female leadership program that she founded in 2004. Her role at Smith, an all-female liberal arts college in Northampton, Mass., will involve overseeing all aspects of student life."I'm excited about the position," she said. "It's obviously bittersweet.... I have a lot of friends here and a lot of roots here. But that being said, the opportunity to take on a really senior leadership role at one of the preeminent women's colleges in the country is hard for me to turn down."The role of dean will allow Lisker to showcase a number of her strengths, combining her intellectual skills with her ability to connect with people, said Steve Nowicki, dean and vice provost for undergraduate education.Lisker noted that the breadth of her experiences at Duke has prepared her for the new role at Smith."I've had the privilege—especially in this role of associate vice provost of undergraduate education—of getting involved in so many areas of campus life," she said. "It's not just the classroom, and it's not just residential. I do things with athletics and alumni affairs and development and admissions and financial aid, so I've gotten to do a little bit of everything.... That will really help me go to a place like Smith."Nowicki praised Lisker's leadership skills and personable disposition, noting that the impact she has made at Duke will last beyond her stay."I was both delighted and depressed when Smith asked Donna to apply," Nowicki said. "Delighted because it's a great job for her and she's great for the job, but depressed because she's a really important person here at Duke and we're really going to miss her."Lisker cited her work with the Baldwin Scholars as a particular point of pride from her tenure at Duke, noting her confidence in the ability of the program's associate directors—Colleen Scott and Ava Vinesett—to continue the initiative. At Smith, Lisker hopes to continue working to foster female leadership. She noted that though all student leadership roles at a women's college are held by women, there is a distinction between holding a leadership position and making an impact as a leader."One of my goals will be to really look critically at what would a women's leadership effort look like at a place like Smith, with 2,500 strong female undergraduates," she said.Smith President Kathleen McCartney noted her pleasure with the hire in a press release Monday.“I am very pleased to be bringing Donna Lisker to Smith,” McCartney said. “Her experience in bridging the curricular and co-curricular aspects of undergraduate life, as well as her commitment to the education and advancement of women, make her a terrific match for Smith.”Nowicki said that he hopes to find Lisker's replacement before the end of the Spring semester. The search committee will be chaired by Nancy Allen, vice provost for faculty diversity and faculty development. Other members of the committee include Andrew Janiak, Creed C. Black associate professor of philosophy and Stephanie Helms Pickett, the newly-appointed director of the Women's Center.
(03/18/14 9:14am)
Later this week, the student wall on the first floor of Perkins Library will display a new exhibit—one that showcases not students’ achievements, but their insecurities.
(02/17/14 8:24am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Students excited about the recent snow days will have to hit the ground running this week: not only with regular classes, but also with the possibility of upcoming make-up sessions.Whether or not a course will have make-up classes will be left to the professor's discretion, according to an email sent to department directors of undergraduate studies, program directors and assistant program directors by Lee Baker, dean of academic affairs for Trinity College of Arts and Sciences and associate vice provost for undergraduate education. The make-up sessions will be held on weekends and on the first day of reading period, according to the email."We had to find days that did not conflict with large campus events that could not be moved," Baker said in an email to The Chronicle.Professors who do not wish to hold classroom make-up sessions can explore consolidating material during upcoming classes or holding online make-up courses, Baker wrote in the email.Duke has used this approach to make-up classes in the past, Baker noted. In 2004, two days were taken from reading period for make-up sessions, and in 2000, make-up classes were held on weekends.
(01/24/14 11:23am)
Senior Marcus Benning announced his intent to run as a write-in candidate for undergraduate Young Trustee Wednesday evening—under Duke Student Government bylaws, however, write-in candidates are not allowed.
(01/23/14 1:32pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A mobile by famous sculptor Alexander Calder has been donated to Duke Medicine, according to a Duke Health press release.The Robert and Nettie Benenson Foundation gave the mobile with the intention that it be displayed in Duke Children's Hospital & Health Center, but it is temporarily being housed in the Duke Medicine Pavilion Concourse. “We are thrilled that Duke has received such a significant Calder mobile, which will surely lift the spirits of patients and visitors to Duke Hospital,” said Sarah Schroth, Mary D.B.T. and James H. Semans Director of the Nasher Museum of Art, in the press release. “We know and love Calder as the famous inventor of the mobile. Duke is fortunate to share this beautiful sculpture with the public.”The mobile, finished in 1968, is constructed of wire and painted sheet metal. It was previously owned by Edward Benenson—the father of Lisa Benenson Quattrochi, vice president and secretary of the Robert and Nettie Benenson Foundation—and was given to the Foundation upon his death in 2005. In the years since, the Foundation has searched for the proper place to display it, the press release said.“Then one night I literally woke up and said, ‘Aha!’” said Quattrocchi, who is on the Duke Children’s National Board of Advisors, in the press release. “I thought, ‘Let’s donate it to Duke Children’s Hospital.’ And the more I thought about it, the more sense it made. It’s a colorful, happy, joyful piece, and I like to think that seeing it will brighten the day for a lot of children and families.”
(01/23/14 1:02pm)
A student campaign to raise awareness about the misuse of language related to the LGBTQ community and gender issues—titled “You Don’t Say”—launched earlier this week. A collaboration between LGBTQ student group Blue Devils United and student-led speech awareness campaign Think Before You Talk, the “You Don’t Say” posters feature words and phrases that are sexist or homophobic along with justification for choosing alternatives. Led by sophomores Daniel Kort, Christie Lawrence and Anuj Chhabra, the campaign includes both physical flyers and a social media presence. The Chronicle’s Emma Baccellieri spoke to Kort and Chhabra about the campaign.
(01/21/14 11:18am)
The Young Trustee Nominating Committee has named three students as finalists for the position—seniors Neil Kondamuri, Jacob Tobia and Katherine Zhang.
(01/16/14 3:32am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Young Trustee Nominating Committee has selected 10 semifinalists.The semifinalists are Alikiah Barclay, Marcus Benning, Steven Blaser, Valentine Esposito, Neil Kondamuri, Marc Osian, Jacob Tobia, Katherine Zhang, Hong Zhu and Jacob Zionce, said YTNC Chair Katya Prosvirkina, a senior.Eight of the 10 are seniors, with the exceptions being Barclay—who graduated in Winter 2013—and Zionce, who is a junior. Barclay was also a semifinalist for the position last year.The Young Trustee serves one year on the Board of Trustees as a nonvoting member and two years as a voting member. Chris Brown, Trinity '13, was elected Young Trustee in last year's election.All of the applicants for the position were named semifinalists, Prosvirkina said, a situation which also occurred in last year's selection process. Duke Student Government bylaws require a minimum of eight semifinalists with no maximum. The nominating committee will name two to five finalists by next Wednesday, Prosvirkina noted. The undergraduate student body will then vote to determine the winner.The YTNC altered its classifications for conflicts of interest between committee members and applicants—now including a category for moderate conflicts of interest, in addition to minor and major ones as before.According to a document obtained by The Chronicle, the 14 members of the YTNC declared 26 minor conflicts of interest, 13 moderate conflicts of interest and 14 major conflicts of interest with the 10 semifinalists."So far it's been working very well, because everyone's very honest," Prosvirkina said. "It's quite detailed in terms of defining affiliation."Last year, the YTNC declared 13 minor and eight major conflicts of interest with the eight semifinalists. "This year, we took a very extensive meeting to define the different types of conflict," Prosvirkina said. "In detail, we checked each other's level of conflict."Zhang and Kondamuri are members of The Chronicle's independent editorial board. Zhang served as chair of the editorial board last year.This article was updated at 7:29 p.m. to reflect new information.
(01/10/14 11:24am)
If passed, a new proposal will increase the amount of Duke courses students must take to graduate.
(01/09/14 10:46am)
As the number of students admitted to Duke via binding early decision has risen over the past few years, the number of students applying for those spots has skyrocketed.
(12/18/13 9:31am)
Benjamin Ward’s official role at the University was adjunct associate professor of philosophy. His title, however, does not even begin to capture his involvement in both the Duke and Durham communities.
(12/13/13 6:07pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Duke's early decision Class of 2018 will go down in the books as a record breaker. After receiving a record high 3,180 applications, the University admitted 797 students Thursday night—comprising an all-time high of 47 percent of the total class, expected to have 1,705 members. Students of color make up 37 percent of the early decision admits—8 percent up from last year and another record."We'd prefer not to admit as much as half of the class [in early decision]," Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Christoph Guttentag said. "But if it turns out that there are more strong applicants who want to be at Duke more than any other school—why not take advantage of that?"He added that the academic credentials among applicants were the strongest they had ever been.The early decision process is binding, meaning that the students who were admitted are committed to attending Duke. The acceptance rate was 25 percent—which is 5 percent lower than last year—with about 20 percent of applicants deferred to regular decision and 55 percent rejected.Last year, 44 percent of the total class was admitted early—753 students—and 29 percent were students of color.Duke's approach to early decision admissions has changed over the past decade, with more and more of each incoming class being admitted early in recent years. In a 2002 interview with The Chronicle, Guttentag said that the University preferred to limit the amount of early admits per class to 30 percent."In limiting the size of the entering groups, we are in the minority among selective colleges," he said at the time.The portion of the class admitted early climbed gradually throughout the early 2000s, however, and grew more significantly from 2010 to the present. The size and quality of the early applicant pool have now increased to a point where it is logical for Duke to admit more students early, Guttentag said."At that point 10 years ago, I think that admitting 30 percent of the class made sense in terms of the difference in quality between early decision and regular decision," he noted. "But as the applicant pool has increased and gotten stronger, it's provided us with an opportunity we didn't have 10 years ago." The early applicant pool this year was more diverse than it has been in the past, in terms of both race and geography, Guttentag added.Guttentag noted that the high percentage of students admitted early will make the regular decision admissions process more competitive."Regular decision is almost certainly going to be more selective than it was last year," he said. "But our experience last year was that even in a very selective regular decision process, we're able to admit the students who are the most compelling."
(12/05/13 10:50am)
The University is currently conducting one of the most important administrative searches in the past decade.
(11/25/13 12:23am)
Senior Daniel Strunk and Sanette Tanaka, Trinity '12, have been awarded the George J. Mitchell Scholarship.Sponsored by the US-Ireland Alliance, the scholarship supports one year of study at a university in Ireland or Northern Ireland. The program covers living accommodations, tuition and an international travel stipend. A total of 12 recipients received the scholarship from a pool of nearly 300 applicants, according to a press release.
(11/20/13 12:13pm)
Naresh Vissa, Fuqua ‘12, recently published a book titled “Everything You Need to Know About the Duke Fuqua MMS: A Guide of Memoirs for Applicants and Students.” Half of the book’s profits will be donated to the Fuqua School of Business. The Chronicle’s Emma Baccellieri sat down with Vissa to discuss the new publication.
(11/14/13 12:54pm)
Professors discussed the past, present and future of al Qaeda’s presence in Africa during a panel Wednesday evening.
