Duke Firsts

Synonymous with the founding of Duke University, The Duke Family played a crucial role in establishing the university we know today.

The first five African American undergraduates arrived on campus as members of the Class of 1967 and forever changed our university for the better.

Trinity College’s first international student, Yao-ju “Charlie” Soong came to North Carolina in 1881 from China. He went on to an extraordinary career.

The first Black woman to receive a PhD at Duke, Ida Stephens Owens went on to earn international recognition for her research at the National Institutes of Health on the genetics of human disease.

Alice Mary Baldwin was one of the most significant administrators of Duke’s history, serving as the inaugural Dean of Women and also the first woman to have full faculty status.