Celebrate and Look Forward
Duke University was established in 1924 when James B. Duke, through the Indenture of Trust, designated a gift that transformed Trinity College into a comprehensive research university. In 2024, Duke University launches a celebration of its centennial—a historic opportunity to recognize Duke’s extraordinary past, communicate the impact of the present and look toward the potential of Duke’s future.
“This is a moment of transformation for Duke, when we can see more clearly than ever before how we might lead in the century to come.
It’s also a moment of extraordinary continuity, as the seeds of our current and future excellence that were planted and cultivated throughout our university’s first hundred years come into bloom.”
President Vincent E. Price
Use the new Duke campus tour app to experience the history of West campus, East campus, and Athletics
In 1924, Trinity College became Duke University. This year, we celebrate the 100 years since that historic moment and look forward to Duke’s second century.
A new coffee table book collects major moments and little-known stories of Duke’s history
After Trinity College moved to Durham in 1892, school janitor and handyman George Wall later moved to Durham and continued working as a custodian on the new campus. He purchased a small property and built a house near East Campus, Wall became a leader in the growing working-class community, eventually named “Walltown.”
The Cue Family Professor of the Practice of Electrical & Computer Engineering and Computer Science is also the Education and Workforce Director for the Athena AI Institute.
Paul Farmer attended Duke as a Benjamin N. Duke Scholar, graduating in 1982 with a bachelor’s degree in anthropology. While at Duke he met Haitian farmworkers laboring in North Carolina tobacco fields, sparking an interest in Haiti that would shape his life’s work.
Rosa Gonzalez-Guarda believes in the power of community. The daughter of Cubans who emigrated to the United States in the 70s, Gonzalez-Guarda was born in Miami, where Cubans were part of the majority.
Onyekwere E. Akwari’s low-key, engaging presence at Duke was transformative. He was described as a compassionate physician and dedicated mentor and was one of four surgeons who initiated the Society of Black Academic Surgeons in 1989.
The cars and clothes may have changed since the 1960s, but move-in day is the same—the day when students embark on their Duke journey.
Find resources where you can learn more about the events, milestones, moments and people that made Duke’s first hundred years.
Celebrate 100 years in style.
