Inspirational Stories

Those who knew and loved Owen Strong describe him as tall, lanky, handsome, smart, happy, funny, and nice: in sum, befitting his 2018 Halloween costume as The BFG (Big Friendly Giant), said his girlfriend, Stacia Smart. And Owen loved in big, giant ways, too, focusing less on his own needs and more on those of his family and friends. It was out of love that he protected them, as much as he could, after he was diagnosed with the worst kind of brain tumor in 2018.

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.

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.

Long an advocate for others with cancer, Nancy Wright is in the middle of her second battle with the disease. It has solidified her belief in Duke as a place for personalized, advanced care.