The school was organized by the Union Institute Society, a group of Methodists and Quakers under the leadership of Reverend Brantley … See more

In 1903, a controversy arose that would eventually lead to a significant event in the evolution of academic freedom in U.S. higher education. This series of events is known as the "Bassett Affair." Popular professor John Spencer Bassett published an article in the … See more

The mascot for Duke's athletic teams, the Blue Devil, has an interesting history. As World War I ended, Duke's Board of Trustees, then called the "Trinity College Board of Trustees," lifted their quarter-century ban of football on campus, leading to an interest in … See more

Engineering, which had been taught since 1903, became a separate school in 1939. In athletics, Duke hosted and competed in the only Rose Bowl game ever played outside of California in See more

Duke University's growth and academic focus have dramatically increased the university's reputation as an academic and research institution in recent years. In 1993, Duke's three … See more

In 1887, Yale-educated economist John Franklin Crowell became President of Trinity College. Committed to the German university model which emphasized research over … See more

On December 11, 1924, James B. Duke established The Duke Endowment, a $40 million trust fund (equivalent to $711 million in 2023 ), the annual income of which was to be distributed in the Carolinas among hospitals, orphanages, the Methodist … See more