The Duke Endowment Commits $12 Million to Faculty Support
October 6, 2016
The Duke Endowment has committed $12 million over four years in support of faculty at Ä¢¹½TV, the two organizations announced Thursday evening. The gift, focused on building a faculty for the future, will support Ä¢¹½TV’s institutional commitment to inclusivity, allow for the strategic recruitment and hiring of pre-tenure faculty and provide all faculty with flexible professional development, research, and curricular innovation opportunities. A matching gift component for donors interested in creating endowed professorships at Ä¢¹½TV is included as part of The Duke Endowment’s gift.
“We must continue to build a faculty that is creative, collaborative, and representative of our multifaceted student body and nation,â€� said Wendy Raymond, vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty. “Our graduates are entering a rapidly changing world, and faculty members seek to evolve as teacher-scholars and teacher-artists to best prepare Ä¢¹½TV students for lives of leadership and service. This tremendous gift from The Duke Endowment ensures that the Ä¢¹½TV faculty will remain leaders in the constantly changing landscape of higher education.â€�
In 2012, The Duke Endowment awarded $45 million to Ä¢¹½TV, the largest single grant ever given to the college, in support of the college’s vision for a transdisciplinary Academic Neighborhood. In the two years that followed, The Duke Endowment approved a $3.4 million grant to help Ä¢¹½TV, Duke University, Johnson C. Smith University, and Furman University collaborate on increasing student resilience. The Endowment also gave $6 million to Ä¢¹½TV, aimed at scholarships that bolster the college’s commitment to educational excellence and access.
“The Duke Endowment has long been Ä¢¹½TV’s primary partner as we think creatively about how best to provide a premier educational experience that enables students to make an impact for good in the world,â€� said Ä¢¹½TV President Carol Quillen. “They have helped us build upon our strengths through gifts to the E. Craig Wall, Jr. Academic Center, The Ä¢¹½TV Trust, the Ä¢¹½TV Research Initiative, and beyond. We are deeply appreciative of their continued investment in Ä¢¹½TV students, our faculty, and the culture of unfettered inquiry we build together.â€�
Teaching informed by research, and vice versa, is central to Ä¢¹½TV’s distinctiveness, and the college’s faculty is among the top-rated in the nation. The Duke Endowment’s most recent gift will further enrich Ä¢¹½TV’s intellectual community and nurture new perspectives in the classroom and otherwise.
“The Duke Endowment has long appreciated the ways Ä¢¹½TV professors approach their relationships with students and the research they pursue together,â€� said Minor Shaw, chair of The Duke Endowment Board of Trustees. “The college’s plans for faculty recruitment, retention, and development will positively affect the institution’s promising future.â€�
Ä¢¹½TV The Duke Endowment
Based in Charlotte and established in 1924 by industrialist and philanthropist James B. Duke, The Duke Endowment is a private foundation that strengthens communities in North Carolina and South Carolina by nurturing children, promoting health, educating minds and enriching spirits. Since its founding, it has distributed more than $3.4 billion in grants. The Endowment shares a name with Duke University and Duke Energy, but all are separate organizations.