Medearis to Retire as VP of Duke Health Development and Alumni Affairs
After 29 years of service to Duke, Ellen Medearis, vice president of Duke Health Development and Alumni Affairs, will retire effective January 5, 2024.
Since Medearis assumed the role of vice president in 2011, the Duke Health Development and Alumni Affairs office has grown, as has its impact on the School of Medicine, the School of Nursing, and Duke University Health System. Under her decade-plus as vice president, the Duke Health development team has secured $1.3 billion in philanthropic support.
Medearis joined the Duke University School of Medicine Development Office in 1994, then served in the University Development Office from 1996-2010. During that time, she established the university’s first comprehensive $1 million-plus gift program.
Duke Health will conduct a national search for Medearis’s successor in this pivotal role and will engage a search firm to begin work immediately.
With Gratitude
Every gift to Duke Health supports the advancement of research and discovery to improve the health of our global community. We are fortunate to receive donations of all sizes as well as transformative donations made by alumni and friends, which we highlight here.
Thank you for your continuous support to Duke Health.
$2.1 Million Gift is Latest in the Mario Family's Contributions to Innovation in Education and Health Care
Ernest Mario, PhD, and his family, through the Mario Family Foundation, recently made an important new gift that builds upon their past support and will nurture innovation in health care and patient experience for years to come.
Artificial heart implant...
The Moore family marked dad Matthew’s 40th birthday with a special reunion following his artificial heart implant procedure. Duke Heart surgeons placed the first-in-North-America device in his chest July 12th.
Duke Science and Technology...
When we get a cold, or a cut on our hand, we will heal. This concept of resilience is being studied and researched at Duke, and basic science research may hold many of the keys to unlocking the power of the human body to resist infection and disease.
Harnessing Light to Measure...
A portable optical tool that promises to make surgical planning easier and less invasive for children who need surgery for epilepsy will get its first tests in the clinic, thanks to a $300,000 grant from The Hartwell Foundation.
ChatGPT Enters the Classroom
School of Medicine faculty are using the capabilities of ChatGPT, to improve students’ learning experiences.
Adapt and Innovate
Last spring, when Prince Boadi accepted an offer to attend Duke University School of Medicine starting in the fall of 2020, he knew the experience—leaving his family and friends in Chicago, learning his way around Durham, meeting new people, and taking on the rigors of medical school—would be different from anything else he’d ever done.
Duke Nursing Students Make a...
As students at Duke University School of Nursing, Lindsay Salisbury and Shelby Strockbine entered their third semester with a new perspective on the importance of global health and their roles as future nurses.
Retired Educator’s Estate Gift...
Lucy Lettera of Duke Health understands firsthand the struggle of being overweight. “Being overweight comes with a myriad of medical, physical, and emotional problems,” said the anonymous donor, of Rye Brook, New York. “For me, it was about my own self-esteem and wanting to improve my health.”
Duke Children’s Hospital...
Duke Children’s Hospital once again ranked among the top 50 children’s medical centers nationally and retained its position at No. 1 in North Carolina, according to this year’s annual list from U.S. News & World Report.
Fighting on Both Sides of...
For 27 years, Heather Paradis, a 1995 graduate of Duke University’s Master of Science in Nursing Program, cared for cancer patients at Duke University Hospital as a hematology-oncology nurse practitioner. As she saw many patients fighting the disease, she had no idea that she would one day be on the other side of cancer care.
Creating Impact
Why your gift matters
Whether you are a former patient, family member, friend, alumnus, or partner, your gifts have a profound impact on today’s care and tomorrow’s cures.
82%
1,385
Your Donations Make a Difference
Care, heal, teach, discover—that’s what your gifts empower Duke Health to do. Your generosity keeps us vigilant and innovative, able to take on urgent challenges and promising opportunities.