A trailblazing hospital executive who transformed large health systems and championed innovation, Nancy Schlichting, MBA, T’76, has spent her career elevating the role of nurses in delivering better care. Now, together with her wife, Pam Theisen, Schlichting is extending that commitment through a gift to launch the Nursing Innovation Fund at Duke Health.

A career dedicated to improving health in partnership with communities has culminated in a transformational gift by Duke University School of Medicine Professor Emeritus J. Lloyd Michener, MD, to carry forward work that he and his wife, the late Gwendolyn C. Murphy, PhD, championed for years.

Duke University has received a $30 million, 10-year grant from the Pritzker Children’s Initiative to improve maternal and early childhood health across North Carolina. The effort will bring together experts in clinical care, economics, policy, and public health — alongside families and communities — to create more connected, effective systems of care for pregnant women and young children.

Duke University alumnus and second-generation physician Vijay Ramakrishnan, MD and his wife, Praveena Ramakrishnan, have made a $3 million gift to advance patient care and radiology education at Duke Health. Practicing medicine runs deep in the Ramakrishnan family — and now, their legacy is helping shape the future of radiology at Duke.