Duke’s impressive Class of 2011 began with 1,365 Trinity College students and 336 Pratt Engineering students selected from a near-record pool of 19,207 applicants. Half of the applicants were top-10 students in their secondary schools and 1,383 were valedictorians.

By the numbers

Students of color comprise a record 44 percent of the entering class, which is 28.4 percent Asian, 9.3 percent African American, and 5.9 percent Hispanic/Latino.

Students with combined SAT Critical Reading and Math scores of 1500 or above represent almost one-third of the incoming class, with this year’s total of 558 the second highest ever.

Thirteen percent of the entering class is from North Carolina, with North and South Carolina together comprising 15 percent of the class. New York, Florida, California, and Virginia round out the top five states represented.

The class includes 164 students from 38 foreign countries.

Highlights

Two undergraduates won $7,500-per-year Goldwater Scholarships, recognizing their excellence and research potential in science, math, or engineering:

• Biomedical Engineering major Yvonne Yamanaka, who will be working with Professor Kam Leong on insulin delivery using nanoparticles; and
• Mathematics major Charles Staats, who is focusing a new area of mathematics known as tropical geometry.

Duke senior Charles "Chas" Salmen was among the 32 recipients of Rhodes Scholarships in 2006 and Duke’s 41st Rhodes Scholar. Salmen plans to pursue a master’s degree at the University of Oxford in medical anthropology and then to become a physician with a focus on international health.

Felicia Walton won a prestigious Marshall Scholarship for two years of graduate study in the United Kingdom. Walton plans to study mammalian cell division at the University of Cambridge.

Brandon Levin was awarded a 2007 Winston Churchill Scholarship to pursue a year of graduate study at the University of Cambridge. The Churchill Scholarship Program enables outstanding American students to conduct graduate studies in engineering, mathematics, and the natural and physical sciences at the University of Cambridge’s Churchill College.

Jimmy Soni was one of 12 Americans awarded a Mitchell Scholarship for a year of graduate study in Ireland. The George J. Mitchell Scholarships are awarded annually to a dozen Americans under the age of 30 who exhibit the highest standards of academic excellence, leadership, and community service.

Andrew Cunningham is one of 65 students from 56 U.S. colleges and universities selected this year by the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation. Truman Scholars are chosen based on their academic success, leadership potential, and commitment to a career in public service.

James Zou won the Gates Cambridge Scholarship. The international scholarship program is for outstanding students from outside the United Kingdom who gain admission to the University of Cambridge to pursue graduate studies.

Seniors Chloe Chien and Andrew Longenecker were named to USA Today’s second All-USA College Academic team. Senior Joseph Babcock was named to the third team.

Ten Duke undergraduates received 2007-2008 Fulbright Scholarships for postgraduate study and teaching fellowships:

• Sarah Dickens from Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina is based at the Documentation Center of Cambodia where she is focusing on the country’s art and architectural history.
• Lauren Hanson of Boca Raton, Florida is teaching English as a Foreign Language in Germany.
• Christine Lim of North Caldwell, New Jersey is teaching English as a Foreign Language in South Korea.
• Emily Rotberg of Charlotte, North Carolina is working in journalism in the United Kingdom.
• Jesse Silverman from Oakland, California is working in a biology lab at the University of Queensland in Australia.
• Scott Sorrell of Clinton, North Carolina will be completing an ethnographic study of post-conflict mediation in Nepal.
• Sarah Stevens of Arlington, Virginia is working on public health issues in Ecuador.
• Rachel Weeks from Jamestown, North Carolina will study ways that ethical processes can be implemented in the production processes of the fashion industry in Sri Lanka.
• David Wiley from Rosewell, Georgia is teaching English as a Foreign Language in Spain.
• Jane Zhu of Tampa, Florida will explore public health issues in China.