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Melanie Dunea/CPi
Nannerl O. Keohane
President, Duke University
Duke University’s home is in North Carolina, but our community is the world. Hardly a day passes without a newspaper, television program or Web site telling the story of a scientific breakthrough, a stimulating monograph, a triumphant alumnus or a promising new medical treatment at Duke. Individually, such stories highlight the extraordinary individuals whose outrageous ambitions have fueled Duke’s development over the past few decades into one of the world’s great universities. Together, they exemplify the intellectual richness and diversity of an institution deeply engaged with society’s most important issues.

This annual report features a tiny sample of the professors, students and others whose work was highlighted by the news media during the academic year 2001-2002. Like those they represent—a group so large that Duke produces a daily online report about our media coverage—the people in the following pages would be special anywhere. But it’s notable that they all chose Duke as the incubator for their ambition and the framework for putting their compassion and ideas into action—and Duke, in turn, chose them.

Their stories illustrate how great scholars and teachers are not born but made from the exigencies, reversals, and joys of their private and professional lives. We see how the death of a son contributed an unexpected perspective to a brilliant and poignant book; how a parent’s mental illness shaped the dreams of a young scientist; how the execution of a radical philosopher two millennia ago informs our lives today. We learn again that history is personal, messy and being made here right this moment.

Although we at Duke know that our first responsibility is to our students and campus community, we embrace our role in the larger world. As we were reminded at the beginning of this academic year, on September 11, the knowledge and learning that are our lifeblood are too important to contain within our campus. We must share what we know and make our voices heard on subjects that we know and care about. If you find the stories in our first online annual report intriguing, I invite you to sign up for a new electronic service, eDuke, that will provide you with similar updates on a regular basis. You may live near Duke, or far away, but we want to bring Duke closer to you and show you how it is helping to change your world.