Duke University

DUKE UNIVERSITY IS a private coeducational research university located in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present—day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924 tobacco industrialist James B. Duke established the Duke Endowment, prompting the institution to change its name in honor of his father Washington Duke.

The university is organized into two undergraduate and eight graduate schools. The undergraduate student body, which includes 40 percent ethnic minorities, comes from all 50 U.S. states and 117 countries. In its 2008 edition, U.S. News & World Report ranked the undergraduate division eighth in the nation, while ranking the medical, law, and business schools each among the top 11 in the country. Duke's research expenditures are among ...