A MESSAGE FROM DEAN
SUZANNE
BARBOUR
As we commemorate Duke University’s centennial, we have much to celebrate within The Graduate School. This year’s report captures the continuing evolution of graduate education at Duke and underscores our commitment to adapting and growing in response to the changing needs of our graduate community.In August 2023, the vote in favor of unionization by our Ph.D. students signified a meaningful shift, one occurring more broadly in graduate education as well as at Duke. Our mission, as always, is to engage deeply with the needs of our students, recognizing that their academic journey is multifaceted and requires holistic support.Our efforts to support those holistic needs are detailed in this report. We hope that in browsing these pages you will catch a small glimpse of our dedication to equipping students with the skills and flexibility needed for a diverse range of career paths.As you will see, equity and belonging remained central to our values. Programming such as the University Center of Exemplary Mentoring (UCEM), the new EDGE Initiative, newly founded centennial fellowships, and expansions to the EIS program have equipped us to better advance societal equity and strengthen mentorship. Our efforts in this area are complemented by a commitment to recruiting and retaining students of all backgrounds.Thank you for your interest in what's happening here at Duke, and for being our partners in supporting tomorrow's leaders.Suzanne Barbour
Dean of The Graduate School
Vice Provost for Graduate Education
Professor of Cell Biology
In addition to these achievements, we celebrate the remarkable contributions of our students and staff. From the prestigious NSF Fellowships awarded to our talented students to the impactful Dean’s Research Awards and the leadership recognized by the Forever Duke Student Leadership Awards, the highlights of this year reflect the excellence and dedication of our community.As we move forward, we are guided by the principle that fostering a thriving academic environment requires continuous investment and engagement. By nurturing each other’s growth and supporting a diverse and inclusive community, we ensure that The Graduate School remains a place where ideas flourish and futures are shaped.Thank you for your ongoing support and commitment as we continue to build on our legacy and look towards a promising future.Warm regards,Suzanne Barbour
Dean, Duke Graduate School
An Evolving Model of Graduate education
In August 2023, an election was held by the National Labor Relations Board to determine whether Ph.D. students who hold teaching or research appointments at Duke wished to be represented by the Southern Region Workers United (SEIU). The majority of votes cast in the election determined that Duke University Ph.D. students favored unionization.Since November 2023, bargaining sessions have brought together leadership from Duke University, Ph.D. students, and union representatives to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement. This process is ongoing as of August 2024 and will continue into the coming academic 2024–2025 academic year.
SLOAN GRANT SUPPORTS UCEM PROGRAMMING THROUGH 2027
In November 2023, the Duke University Center of Exemplary Mentoring (UCEM) received a $1 million grant renewal from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to support its continued programming over the next three years.The latest grant is the second and final renewal of generous financial support from Sloan, who by 2027 will have supported the UCEM program at Duke for close to a decade.Learn more about UCEM in the Equity & Belonging section of this report, or visit ucem.duke.edu.
2024 Dean's Awards
The Graduate School granted 11 Dean’s Awards in 2024, recognizing excellence in mentoring, teaching, and inclusive initiatives.This year’s recipients included the BOOST Beyond program (pictured right), as well as faculty and graduate students from the humanities, social sciences, physical sciences, and engineering.
1,024
graduate students started at Duke, from a pool of 14,998 applicants
414
students completed their doctoral programs during the 2023–2024 academic year
10
sessions held between union representatives and university leadership as work toward a new contract continues
49%
of incoming students are in Master's programs, continuing the trend in recent years
673
Master's students completed their programs, including 35 graduates from Duke Kunshan University
50/50
enrollment by gender, with female-identifying students comprising half of the student body for the first time
2023–2024
BY THE NUMBERS
Below: Jill Tiefenthaler and her husband Kevin Rask, also a Duke alum.
2024 Distinguished Alumni Award
Jill Tiefenthaler (Ph.D. ’91 Economics) was selected for the 2024 Distinguished Alumni Award for her leadership in higher education, commitment to equity, and ongoing environmentalist efforts as CEO of the National Geographic Society. She accepted the award at this year’s Ph.D. Hooding Ceremony.
"That ability to use one’s own experiences and position and pay it forward was so important in my own life. As a farm girl from Iowa getting to where I am today, there were a lot of important mentors along the way. The thing I’m most proud of is being able to do that same thing for others."
~ Jill Tiefenthaler
This Year in TGS
Duke's centennial year
Duke reached a significant milestone in 2024 as it celebrates its first centennial. In reflecting on Duke’s first 100 years, Dean Suzanne Barbour discusses the integral role played by The Graduate School, originally founded in 1926 as The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Upholding its underlying values of collegiality, equality, advocacy, and mentorship, The Graduate School has supported tens of thousands of students who have trained, researched, taught, and learned on Duke’s campus and across the world.
“The needs of our students are constantly changing—and our model is changing too. Our graduate students have spoken, and their message is loud and clear: They desire to be stronger partners in creating their educational experience at Duke. To support our students, we need to think of their holistic needs, not just their educational ones.”
~ Dean Suzanne Barbour
2024 Hooding Ceremony
On May 11, the Graduate School held two Ph.D. Hooding Ceremonies at Duke Chapel to celebrate its 2023-2024 doctoral graduates. In total, 285 Ph.D. graduates participated in the ceremonies, with over 1,000 guests, staff, and faculty in attendance.In honor of the Duke Centennial, each graduate was given a copy of Duke University: The First One Hundred Years as a special keepsake.The full list of Ph.D. dissertations, departments, and advisors for 2023–2024 graduates can be found on the TGS website.Congratulations, graduates!
View the Full Ceremony Recordings
Humanities and
Social Sciences
Biological and Biomedical Sciences,
Physical Sciences, and Engineering
Ph.D. ADMISSIONS TRENDS: 2019–2024
In the last five years, Duke Graduate School has seen a steady increase in numbers of applicants, including applicants from historically excluded populations. Both the number of admitted students and matriculated students have surpassed pre-pandemic enrollment, after seeing a slight decline in the 2020 and 2021 academic years.
GSA Commits to Student wellness
Duke Graduate School aims to support graduate students’ overall wellbeing just as much as their academic success and professional development.This year’s Wellness Week provided opportunities to recharge and recenter through hatha yoga at the Wellness Center, coffee and bagels from Tenco Coffee, a grounding workshop at Duke Gardens, and holiday decorating and candle making.Other opportunities during the year included mindfulness activities such as guided yoga and meditation.
Lauren Ginsberg, the first Mellon Leadership Fellow, and the first faculty fellow The Graduate School
NEW FELLOWSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
Several new fellowships founded this year will expand support to students and provide leadership and career advancement opportunities to faculty fellows.
Centennial Graduate and Professional Fellowships
The Duke University Centennial Graduate and Professional Fellowship (CGP) will provide additional financial support to selected doctoral students in the first three years of their program. The CGP is funded through The Duke Endowment (TDE) Graduate and Professional Fellowship fund.Each fellowship recipient receives $5,000 per year for three years. 23 fellowships were granted in 2024, with 19 students who completed their undergraduate studies in the Carolinas.
Centennial MSI and HBCU Graduate and Professional Fellowships
The Duke University MSI & HBCU Centennial Graduate and Professional Fellowship (CGP) provides similar support to students from Minority Serving Institutions and Historically Black Colleges and Universities.In 2024, 14 fellowships were awarded, with 6 students having completed their undergraduate studies in the Carolines.
Mellon Graduate Faculty Fellowship
Also founded in 2023 was the Mellon Graduate Faculty Fellows Program, a collaboration between The Graduate School, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences, and the Office for Faculty Advancement. Supported through Duke's Ivy+ Faculty Advancement Network and a grant from the Mellon Foundation, the two-year fellowship supports tenured faculty in the Humanities & Arts.Read more about the first Mellon Leadership Fellow, Lauren Ginsberg, in the Equity & Belonging section of this report.
Remembering Angela Risi
Each member of the Duke community is valued and cherished. The Duke community continues to mourn the loss of Angela Risi, who was in her second year of study in the Master of Fine Arts in Dance program when she tragically lost her life on October 2, 2023. Our hearts go out to her family, friends, and all impacted by her death. May her memory be a blessing to all who knew her.Learn more about Angela Risi’s life and legacy in this article and several other tributes published in The Duke Chronicle.
Photo courtesy of the Risi family
In Case You Missed It
Across Faiths, Across Disciplines: For Graduate Students Seeking Spiritual Well-Being
While the Duke community has felt, and continues to feel, the heartrending effects of the war in Gaza, this story from October emphasizes the religious diversity and interfaith collaboration deeply embedded in Duke’s campus.
Graduate Students Create and Collaborate in the University Scholars Program
In the spirit of collaboration, check out this story on the University Scholars Program and its commitment to interdisciplinary exploration among graduate and undergraduate students.
AI and Machine Learning's New Frontiers: 3 Computer Science Ph.D. Students Weigh In
As advancements in machine learning and generative AI continue to evolve, see what three Ph.D. students in computer science have to say about AI’s possibilities and limitations.
Supporting
Our Students
Investing in Professional Development
The $800,000 investment from The Graduate School in 2022 continued to support and expand professional development offerings during the 2023–2024 academic year. Notable Professional Development highlights include the 6-week SciPhD Business of Science Program, which 52 graduate students and postdocs completed; the Building a Culture of Allyship program, a 6-week virtual Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging training program completed by 9 students; and Beyond the Professoriate and Beyond Graduate School, two online career training platforms for Ph.D. and Master’s students, respectively.205 Master’s students made use of Beyond Graduate School, taking advantage of 17 webinars and a weeklong “bootcamp.” Ph.D. students could take advantage of twenty webinars, a virtual conference, and a weeklong “bootcamp” through Beyond the Professoriate, and the platform logged 333 Duke users.
Professional Development
By the Numbers
9
proposals funded by the Professional Development Grant, awarding over $14K
15
graduate students and postdocs completed the Emerging Leaders Institute, now in its tenth year
62
events offered by the Professional Development Series with at least 951 attendees
425
students enrolled in the
Certificate in College Teaching program, the largest certificate program at Duke
3,868
students participated in 141 events offered for Responsible Conduct of Research credit
25
Ph.D. students and 4 postdocs
completed the Preparing Future
Faculty Program
Duke OPTIONS 2.0
The Graduate School launched a new and updated version of Duke Options, a professional development tool designed for Ph.D. students at Duke.
“What is exciting about Duke OPTIONS is that it's very flexible. We really embrace the idea that students’ goals change over the course of their Ph.D. program. This tool allows you to go back and think again about how you want to plot your path and what programs and resources are going to be most helpful.”
~ Melissa Bostrom,
Assistant Dean for Graduate Student Professional Development
Assistant Dean Melissa Bostrom, seen here leading a 2023 mentorship workshop, has been integral to the success of the Duke Options platform as a resource to graduate students.
Dean Suzanne Barbour, seen here at the 2024 hooding ceremony, launched the DGS & DGSA Development Series as part of TGS’s efforts to expand resources and offerings to faculty and staff.
DGS & DGSA Development Series
In the fall semester 2023, The Graduate School launched a development series for Directors of Graduate Studies and Director of Graduate Studies Assistants. The series covered a variety of topics, with an objective to offer a space to explore timely and practical topics impacting graduate education today.Each of the sessions was facilitated by a panel of experts from the Duke community and beyond, including a session on Best Practices in Holistic Application Review, Understanding Millennials & Gen Z, and Students in Crisis (a session co-sponsored by TGS, Student Affairs, and the Office for Faculty Advancement).
$4.8m
in fellowships awarded
to 245 Ph.D. students
$61k
in Dean's Research Awards for Master's Students
$5.6m
in Summer Research Fellowships awarded to 391 students
$298k
awarded in COVID-19 funding extensions to Ph.D. students
$228k
in conference travel awards supporting Ph.D. students
85
students supported by NSF Graduate Research Fellowships
Financial
Support
English for International Students
In 2023-2024, a total of 322 students participated in EIS placement assessments for the English for International Students Program (EIS), including exams in speaking and writing.404 students were supported by the program (255 in the fall semester, and 149 in the spring), a total that includes TGS students as well as professional students from the School of Medicine (Master of Biostatistics program) and the Divinity School.
EIS Working Group
During the 2023-2024 year, an EIS working group was formed, which included Duke faculty, students, and Graduate School staff.The group collected and analyzed comprehensive program-related data (e.g., policies, procedures, and programming), and its findings and recommendations are being used to make changes to the program.
EIS Team Welcomes New Program Coordinator
In June 2024, EIS welcomed Carolina Manson as Program Coordinator, answering the need for increased administrative support for the growing program.Carolina provides support with essential administrative tasks, such as data management, communication and outreach efforts, and budget oversight.
In Case You Missed It
2024 Kicks Off with Nine Professional Development Grants Awarded
The Graduate School awarded nine Professional Development Grants for the 2024 academic year. Each grant provides up to $2,000 for departments and programs to create discipline-specific programming for their graduate students’ professional development.
Equity and Belonging
University Center of Exemplary Mentoring
With continued support from The Sloan Foundation through a third and final $1 million grant renewal, the University Center of Exemplary Mentoring (UCEM) continued its efforts this year to advance research, scholarship, educational, and societal equity for Sloan Scholars and the broader Duke community.The grant renewal will allow UCEM to expand its recruitment efforts through partnerships with national societies and minority serving institutions, strengthen student support through enhanced faculty mentoring, and partner more closely with additional campus services, such as Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) and Duke Recreation & Physical Education, to provide stronger wellness support.
In 2024, UCEM welcomed a new administrative team member, Leo Biggs, Ph.D., who serves as the point of contact for scholars and advances the center’s ability to measure student success through data management and program evaluation projects.Sustainability is a major focus of UCEM for the next three years, as it looks for ways to continue financial and mentoring support to Sloan Scholars as well as increasing the impact of UCEM across the Duke community.
update on students for fair admissions (SFFA)
The June 2023 Supreme Court ruling that race-conscious admissions practices were unconstitutional led to a close self-examination of our own application guidelines, principles, rubrics, and review criteria.In partnership with partners at other universities, Duke leadership, and the Office of the Counsel, The Graduate School made adjustments to our application procedures that would both comply with the new ruling while continuing to uphold our long-standing commitments to all historically excluded students, faculty, and staff. These efforts included a school-wide training for graduate school programs on best practices in holistic review of applications, held in the fall of 2023.The initial changes made to our application processes in the Fall 2023 application season will continue to be updated to ensure that Duke remains an institution that welcomes, supports, and celebrates students from all walks of life and all backgrounds.
Enrollment data
2023-2024 Demographics
Duke Graduate School aims to attract a vibrant and inclusive student population with a rich array of unique life experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives. Though this diversity expands beyond race, data included here offers a snapshot of the racial demographics of our enrollment of U.S. citizens and permanent residents during the 2023-2024 academic year.
Gender
Over the last five years, student enrollment has shifted toward greater gender equality between male- and female-identifying students.
International Students
The Graduate School continues to attract students from across the world. In 2023-2024, TGS welcomed students from 56 countries, adding to the richness of our student body.Support for international students, including the English for International Students Program, ensures that international students not only provide a needed global perspective to Duke teaching and research, but are supported in their own academic journeys.
conversational English course supports ESL & International Students
Early in the spring 2024 semester, the English for International Students (EIS) program at The Graduate School offered a new course focused on conversational English that opened its doors to international visiting scholars, postdocs, and partners of graduate students. Due to its success, the course was repeated in summer 2024 and may be offered again in future semesters.
EDGE PROGRAM
In 2024, ten institutions met at Duke to create The Exploring/Enhancing Doctoral (and Master’s) Graduate Education program, an initiative of the Dean of The Graduate School to create a stronger pipeline for students of all backgrounds to explore graduate education.As part of the program, three prospective groups of students from Virginia State University, Virginia Union University, and UNC-Greensboro with over 60 students visited Duke. Plans are being made to continue the campus visits from partner institutions in addition to campus visit from non-EDGE partner institutions.
Edge Summit
This spring semester (June 3-4, 2024), The Graduate School hosted its first EDGE Summit, a meeting of the institutional partners on campus at the J. B. Duke Hotel. All ten institutions had representation at the Summit with an attendance of 30 faculty and staff. The Summit was successful and has led to the submission of an EDGE partnership letter of intent (led by Hampton
University) to the Alfred Sloan Foundation for potential seed grant funding for the advancement of systemic change in doctoral education.
in case you missed it
As part of its evergreen commitment to embracing diversity, both in terms of its community members and their various research interests, The Graduate School celebrated Black History Month, Women’s History Month, and LGBTQ+ Pride Month with a series of feature stories. While these cultural awareness months do not mark the beginning or end of the school’s investment in true equity and belonging, they provided special opportunities to showcase ongoing graduate student research in Black studies, women’s studies, and queer and trans studies.
Looking Forward, Looking Back: 4 Ph.D. Students Reflect on Black History
Read about four Ph.D. students in Duke’s Department of History who are also pursuing the Graduate Certificate in African & African American Studies (AAAS) as they discuss their individual research projects, their inspirations, and their perspectives on what “Black history” signifies.
Graduate Research in Queer Studies and the Many Expressions of Pride
Four graduate students working towards graduate certificates from Duke’s Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies program detail their current research projects—which are all engaged in various ways with queer studies—and offer some reflections on what “Pride” means: here and elsewhere, past and present, as presence and absence, and through grief and joy.
Celebrating Women this March, and Beyond
March is Women’s History Month—a time to celebrate the past, present, and future of women and their vital contributions to American society, culture, and history. And on March 8, this year’s International Women’s Day will be recognized with themes like #InspireInclusion and Invest in Women: Celebrate progress.
Community Highlights
Ph.D. FELLOWSHIP SNAPSHOTS
Each year, The Graduate School provides a number of competitive fellowships to both incoming and continuing Ph.D. students. See the great breadth and depth of research projects supported by the 2023-2024 Ph.D. fellowships, in students’ own words.
“In the summer of 2023, the International Dissertation Research Travel Award made it possible for me to spend six weeks in Austria, doing research for my first and second dissertation chapters. I am sincerely grateful for this opportunity that the Graduate School provided for me.”
~ Tatjana Zimbelius-Klem,
The Carolina-Duke Graduate Program in German Studies
$3.4m
in new commitments made to The Graduate School
250
Annual Fund leadership donors, each with donations over $1k
$3.5m
in total gifts received for graduate fellowships
$4.9m
in total donations made during the 2023–2024 academic year
Development & Philanthropy
Forever Duke Awards
Nine graduating students received Forever Duke Student Leadership Awards for their demonstrated integrity, advocacy, and service to the university—service that is all the more vital and appreciated in a time of heightened collective need and unprecedented change.
“Receiving the Forever Duke award is a privilege which I am only able to be here for because I existed within an institution that exemplifies a collective spirit of community and resilience. As a student here and a parent during the pandemic, I witnessed the power of collective care and support. . . . This award is a testament to the strength of our Duke community, and I am humbled and grateful to be a part of it.”
~ Bonnie Hepler, ABSN’18, Ph.D.’23, School of Nursing
Dean’s Research Award for Master’s Students Snapshots
The Graduate School also granted 65 Dean’s Research Awards for Master’s Students in the 2023-2024 academic year, funding experimental documentary projects, research in global health, conference travel, and much more.
“Cervical cancer remains a significant threat to the well-being of women in low and middle-income countries. With help from Dr. Megan Huchko and her team, we designed a stigma-sensitive training curriculum for Community Health Volunteers (CHVs) focused on client-centered care in the delivery of cervical cancer prevention in Kisumu, Kenya. ... I am grateful for being selected as a recipient of the Dean's Research Award for Master's Students.”
~ Purity Chepkoech, Global Health
NSF FELLOWSHIPs
The Graduate School is proud to announce that 18 of its students received awards from the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP) in 2024. The foundation presents 2,000 awards annually, providing fellows with a three-year stipend, coverage of tuition and fees, and access to professional development opportunities. See the list of Duke recipients and their departments below:
123
total active
NSF GRFP Fellows
29
brand new recipients
in 2023–2024
14
recipients were new matriculants to Duke in 2023
Departing Team Members
Latishia Futrell
In December 2023, Latishia Futrell concluded her decade-long tenure at The Graduate School, finishing with a dual appointment as senior program coordinator for Graduate Student Affairs and assistant director of the Duke University Center of Exemplary Mentoring (UCEM).While at TGS, Tish also earned a degree from Duke's Graduate Liberal Studies program, researching women activists and their intersectional impact on human rights. We are grateful for her unwavering support of our graduate students, especially our Sloan Scholars, and proud to know that she continues to serve the Duke community as director of academic engagement at Alumni Engagement and Development.
Sondra Ponzi
After more than a decade of service to The Graduate School, Sondra Ponzi moved on from her position as senior program coordinator for student development in April 2024, stepping into her new role as director of events for the Nicholas School of the Environment.Sondra’s consistent commitment to graduate students was evident throughout her time at TGS, earning her the Star Graduate Advisor Award from the UCAE Center for Leadership Development and Social Action in 2016. We are thankful for the pivotal role she played in managing resources and leading signature events such as the Ph.D. Hooding Ceremony, orientation week, and so much more.
New Team Members
Jessica Covil-Manset, Ph.D., joined TGS in September 2023 as a communications specialist. In September 2024, Jess left TGS to pursue a new opportunity in Duke's School of Nursing.
Jill Conant joined TGS in January 2024 as a staff specialist on the Academic Affairs team, supporting data collection and reporting, student records, and programming.
Leo Biggs, Ph.D., joined as senior program coordinator on the Graduate Student Affairs team in March 2024.
Carolina Manson joined the English for International Students team as Program Coordinator in June 2024.
Casey Griffith joined as a student intern in March 2024. Casey is a student at UNC-Chapel Hill, where she majors in media and journalism and will complete her degree in December 2024.Casey was instrumental in creating this year's annual report and in creating content for TGS social media. TGS looks forward to working with Casey through the fall 2024 semester
new campus partners in tgs
Maria Wisdom
Assistant Vice Provost for Faculty Advancement
Since 2021, Maria Wisdom, Assistant Vice Provost for Faculty Advancement, has worked with the Office for Faculty Advancement team to establish a university-wide coaching program for Duke faculty, which to date has served close to 300 Duke faculty and campus leaders.As assistant vice provost, Wisdom continues to lead the development of coaching resources for faculty and extend OFA’s program offerings to further support the unique needs of both mid-career and late-career stage faculty. She is also working closely with The Graduate School to create a comprehensive suite of mentoring resources for Duke graduate faculty across disciplines, including evidence-based trainings and ongoing communities of practice.
Lauren Ginsberg
Graduate Faculty Fellow
Lauren Ginsberg, Associate Professor of Classical Studies & Theater Studies) spent the 2023-24 academic year undergoing equity-based leadership training through the Mellon Leadership Fellow program of the Ivy+ Faculty Advancement Network in preparation to join TGS for a one-year appointment for 2024-25.As the school’s first graduate faculty fellow, Ginsberg is working with TGS leadership on a variety of projects, including mentor training for graduate faculty and developing the infrastructure for a new pre-Ph.D. pathway program for applicants from underserved backgrounds.