Dean’s Awards for Excellence in Mentoring and Teaching
The Dean’s Awards for Excellence in Mentoring and Teaching are presented each year to graduate faculty and students who consistently demonstrate best practices in these areas. Good mentoring is a key factor in ensuring that students are well trained in their disciplines, successfully complete their degrees, and have promising career opportunities. The best mentors promote a tradition of mentoring practices in their students. Those honored for their teaching create learning environments that inspire and challenge their students to actively engage in the classroom experience. The tough competition for these awards reveals that Duke continues to enjoy a vibrant culture that values both exemplary mentoring and exceptional teaching—twin aspects of the university culture and a deeply rooted part of the Duke experience. more
Celebrating Graduate Student Appreciation Week: March 26-30
When the Duke University Graduate School was established in 1926, President William Preston Few understood that a Graduate School was the essential element of a research university. Since its founding, the Duke Graduate School has garnered a reputation for excellence in research, teaching, and service by attracting the highest quality of faculty and students to its ranks. This week we pause to bring to light and to appreciate the value of our graduate students who as much as anyone have brought this University to the prominence it enjoys today—through their contributions of scholarship, service, leadership, and innovation. more
Graduate & Professional Student Council Representatives Attend D.C. Legislative Action Days
In February, GPSC sent two representatives to the semi-annual National Association of Graduate and Professional Students (NAGPS) Legislative Action Days in Washington, D.C. Josh Mahlios, 5th year PhD in Immunology, and I attended as the only representatives from North Carolina. Over two days, students from all over the country gathered to meet with their congressional representatives and address the issues they face as graduate and professional students. We met with staff representatives from both Senator Kay Hagan and Richard Burr’s office and with staffers from Congressmen David Price and George K. Butterfield’s office. Lastly, we met with our local Congressman David Price himself. more
Network like crazy! Be persistent! Take risks! These are just a few of the themes that emerged from the February 18 seminar “Entrepreneurship for Graduate Students,” hosted by Dr. Todd Brady (M.D., Ph.D., Pathology), Duke alumnus and member of the Graduate School Board of Visitors, and three of his business colleagues, including Duke alum, Jeff Welch, (Ph.D., Neurobiology). They shared their stories about becoming entrepreneurs and gave candid advice about pursuing the entrepreneurial route to a group of 45 graduate students who participated in the weekend event. The number one lesson students learned was that entrepreneurship is one of many uses for their Ph.D.s. The Graduate School plans to build on the success of this initial seminar to enlist facilitators from a wide range of disciplines who are using their Ph.D. training as successful entrepreneurs.