As part of new campaign, Duke takes university to where alumni are

BY CHRISTINA HOLDER

As part of Duke’s most ambitious campaign to date, the university is rolling out the blue carpet in cities across the world.

In the last year MADE FOR THIS: The Duke Campaign has made stops to visit alumni and friends in San Francisco, New York City and London and has plans to visit Boston, Atlanta and Washington, D.C., over the next year.

“When we leave Duke, we leave with great hope,” said Craig Heberton ‘79, who attended the New York City event this past April. “When you come back and you see Duke in a new way as an alum, you realize what more it has become.”

At each of the MADE FOR THIS events, alumni and friends heard from Duke President Vincent E. Price, university leaders, current Duke students and a line-up of inspiring alumni and faculty who shared about the breakthroughs they were leading to solve the biggest challenges of our time.

Among faculty speakers were:

• Chris Monroe, who is leading discovery at Duke’s Quantum Computing Center—the only one of its kind in the world;
• Nishad Jayasundara, a professor of global environmental health, who is studying how heat may contribute to emerging health threats like kidney disease;
• Nita Farahany, a law and philosophy professor who is leading the charge toward ethical and safer AI; and more.

Heather Whitson M.H.S.’09, H.S.’00-’06, a professor of neuroscience and the director of the Duke Aging Center, shared about the Alzheimer’s research studies she leads at Duke that enrolls patients as young as 25 to unlock the secrets of the brain long before symptoms appear.

“Alzheimer’s is one of the most complex diseases we face,” Whitson told audiences across cities. “We know the changes start in the brain decades before memory loss. That’s why we are the only Alzheimer’s disease center of excellence focused on individuals without Alzheimer’s.”

After an hour-long stage program packed with keynote speakers from across the university and Duke community, alumni and friends had time to relax and connect with each other over hors d’oeuvres and music.

For Almira Bowo ‘25, the MADE FOR THIS event in San Francisco last October was her first alumni event shortly after graduating. It made her feel more connected to the larger Duke community, Bowo said.

“I’ve been missing Duke so much,” she said. “It’s made me feel right at home.”

Four thousand miles across the pond in London this past summer, alumni said they resonated with Bowo’s sentiments.

“When you hear the diversity of topics and the impact that Duke is making throughout so many different fields, it’s nothing short of inspiring,” said Maria Sebastian M.B.A.’96

With more cities planned over the course of the next year, Duke President Vincent E. Price encouraged alumni to get involved with the university now.

“We need all of our alumni and friends to be part of something bigger,” he said. “Together, we will be the university the world needs.”

Learn more at madeforthis.duke.edu.