Meet Donors Like You

A $5 million gift from an anonymous donor has established the first Presidential Distinguished Chair at Duke University. The Duke Presidential Distinguished Chairs, a new class of endowed professorships, were created to maximize the university’s ability to recruit and retain exceptional faculty in a wide range of disciplines, including those aligned with the Duke Science and Technology (DST) initiative.

John Harkey and Jonathan Levin have a 25-year friendship built on trust. “He’s on the very short list of people for whom I would do anything."

Though K. Becky Zagor, BSN’80, RN, MN, decided very early to become a nurse, she says the decision to attend Duke wasn’t as clear-cut. First, she didn’t think she was strong enough academically to compete. And second, her father had been out of work for six months during a tough 1970s recession, meaning her family couldn’t afford Duke.

When Robert Yowell, MD’61, HS’64-’69, entered the Duke University School of Medicine in 1957, he was, by a pretty fair margin, the youngest student at the school.

Peter Kohler, MD’63, HS’64, president emeritus of Oregon Health and Science University, traces many of the foundations of his life and career back to his time at Duke.

Norman C. Shealy, BSM’56, MD’56, HS’56-’57, PhD, wakes up at 5 a.m. every weekday for a workout before heading into the clinic. “A light day is an hour of exercise,” he says. “Ninety minutes is more typical.”

For Jane Trinh, MD’02, HS’02-’06, and her husband, Peter Grossi, MD’02, HS’02- ’08, Duke University School of Medicine was the place where they met in the middle.

Jeanne Caldwell didn’t have Alzheimer’s disease, yet she knew firsthand the devastation it can cause. For 11 years she cared for her mother who had the disease. After her mother’s death in 2015, Caldwell was determined to do what she could to make sure other families did not have to endure the hardships of caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s.

As a high school freshman, Elianna started baking “cookies” for their horses, using ingredients like oat flour and molasses. “It's so nice to give them something you put effort into, something from the heart," she says.

An anonymous family’s generosity will enable Duke University School of Medicine to establish one of the nation’s only programs dedicated specifically to helping girls and women with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).