Dr. John Quelch, an administrator and business school leader with more than four decades of experience in higher education, will become the next executive vice chancellor of Duke Kunshan University in China, Duke Provost and DKU board chair Dr. Alec Gallimore has announced.
Quelch will be the principal academic and administrative affairs officer for DKU, an independent joint venture between Duke, Wuhan University and the city of Kunshan. He will work closely with Gallimore, Duke President Dr. Vincent E. Price and DKU Chancellor Dr. Yaolin Liu.
“I have no doubt John will continue to build on DKU’s success over the past 10 years, and further strengthen the university and the partnerships that make it thrive,” Gallimore said. “John brings immense experience in higher education along with a deep understanding and appreciation of how international educational partnerships can deepen opportunities for global collaboration around the most complex issues facing society.”
Quelch was most recently vice provost of the University of Miami, where he was also dean of the Patti and Alan Herbert Business School. His career in education senior leadership also includes terms as dean, vice president and distinguished professor of international management of the China Europe International Business School, and as dean of the London Business School.
Quelch begins his new role on January 1, 2024. Dr. Mary Frances Luce, Robert A. Ingram Professor of Business Administration at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke, is currently serving as interim EVC.
“As we set the course for DKU’s next decade, I am delighted to welcome Professor John Quelch to this essential role and to the DKU community,” said Liu. “His extensive background in global higher education adds invaluable depth to our senior leadership team, and together we are poised to guide DKU towards a future of continued excellence.”
Quelch is an emeritus professor of business administration at Harvard Business School. He joined the school in 1979 and was senior associate dean from 2001 to 2010. Quelch is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and in addition to the U.S., has lived in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and China.
“I’m thrilled to be entrusted by Duke University Provost Alec Gallimore and the DKU Board of Trustees with the responsibility to help take DKU to the next level of excellence,” Quelch said. “DKU is a unique joint venture that, thanks to the commitment of all its stakeholders, is already – after only ten years – delivering exceptional outcomes for its students.
“Thanks to the investment of the Municipality of Kunshan, DKU has a magnificent campus, while DKU’s academic partners at Wuhan University and Duke are contributing every day to DKU’s progress. I’m aiming to ensure that the entire Duke and Wuhan University communities will be ever prouder of this pathbreaking joint venture.”
Duke Kunshan, a world-class, research-oriented institution rooted in the liberal arts and sciences tradition, celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2023. The August celebrations included the formal unveiling of DKU’s Phase 2 campus, an expansion that more than doubled the campus footprint to 83 acres – another indicator of the university’s endurance and promising future. The expansion included 26 new classrooms, 22 new laboratories, sports facilities, green spaces and other amenities.
There are 1,713 enrolled students at Duke Kunshan; 1,279 from China and 434 international students from 66 countries, including the United States, Canada, Denmark, India, Italy, Morocco, Peru and Singapore. Countries represented in the Class of 2027 include Chile, Jamaica, Jordan, Sweden and Uruguay.
