The leaders of Duke Kunshan University (DKU) and its founders, Duke University, Wuhan University and Kunshan City, unveiled DKU’s state-of-the-art campus at an celebratory event Monday. The 40-acre campus was designed by the architecture firm Gensler, and blends traditional Chinese elements with advanced educational technology in a spacious, modern setting. The celebration event included the unveiling of a plaque with DKU’s name in the calligraphy style of the well-known Ming-dynasty Kunshan intellectual Gu Yanwu, the announcement of a joint research institute established by Wuhan University and Duke University at DKU, and the recognition of major supporters of the university.
The first phase of the DKU campus covers 40 acres on a 200-acre site in the Yangcheng Lake Science and Technology Education Park in Kunshan, and includes an academic center, conference center, student and faculty residences, and a service building. Its architectural master plan reflects the natural and cultural context of the Suzhou region, which is noted for its many waterways and canals. Extensive water features, including an aquatic quadrangle at the center of campus, symbolize the region’s famous water towns. A model of sustainable development and energy efficiency, the campus employs solar shading, passive cooling, and natural flood control practices that have been refined over centuries in response Kunshan’s climate and terrain.
‘This campus is an extraordinary setting befitting a world-class university,’ said DKU Chancellor Liu Jingnan. ‘DKU is quickly establishing itself as a center of global scholarship in China and home to academic research institutes that address local and global challenges. DKU is not just another university, but one that aims to accomplish things that neither Chinese nor American universities can achieve alone.’ During the unveiling of the plaque in Gu Yanwu’s calligraphy style, Liu commented: ‘Gu Yanwu represents Kunshan’s great intellectual tradition of scholarship, and DKU is committed to carrying on Kunshan’s wonderful academic heritage.’
DKU Executive Vice Chancellor Mary Brown Bullock highlighted DKU’s mission to become a new liberal arts university that addresses the changing needs of global higher education. ‘DKU is a learning community in which international and Chinese students and faculty are living and studying together on a residential campus,’ Bullock said. ‘The spacious and modern campus facilities support DKU’s innovative learning strategies, diversity of learning styles, and campus community environment.’
In their speeches, Liu and Bullock expressed their gratitude to a number of individuals and companies, as well as Chinese education officials, for their support of this new university. ‘Philanthropic gifts, as well as other forms of support, play an important role in ensuring the long-term success of DKU,’ Liu said. ‘They also lay a solid foundation to provide our students with educational opportunities including research projects, internships and employment.’
DKU Advisory Board member Gao Xiqing reinforced the importance of broad support from society. He recognized a number of donors and partners, and presided over the signing of an agreement between DKU and China Construction Bank formalizing a strategic partnership between the two organizations. DKU will provide executive training for China Construction Bank executives and employees, and China Construction Bank provides scholarship support for students in DKU’s Master of Science in Global Health program.
Commenting on the architectural design, Tim Etherington, a principal with Gensler, said, ‘We wanted to create a campus where learning happens everywhere, and with everyone. Our master plan, architecture and landscape positively influence attitudes and learning inside and outside the classroom.’ Etherington added, ‘We created a unique identity for each of the buildings by merging modern and iconic styles with influences of the local context, but also harken back references to both Duke University and its liberal arts education.’
During the event, Wuhan University and Duke University also announced the establishment of a joint research institute at Duke Kunshan University. The ‘WHU-DUKE Research Institute at DKU’ will serve as a joint research platform to attract faculty and students from Wuhan, Duke, and DKU, and scholars from around the world, to collaborate on research projects of common interest. Initially focusing on research in the physical sciences and engineering, issues concerning China’s development and economic transformation, contemporary Chinese thought and culture, and higher education internationalization, the institute complements DKU’s Global Health Research Center and overall research agenda.
In September 2013, Duke Kunshan University was granted establishment approval by China’s Ministry of Education. Duke Kunshan University welcomed its first students in fall semester 2014. The university currently offers master’s degree programs leading to Duke University degrees in medical physics, global health, and management studies, as well as a one-semester program for undergraduate students from universities in China and around the world.
About Duke Kunshan University
Duke Kunshan University (DKU) is a Sino-American joint venture university founded by Duke University and Wuhan University in Kunshan, China. DKU was granted final establishment approval in September 2013, and is governed by an independent Board of Trustees. The university is accepting applications for admission to master’s degree programs in medical physics, global health and management studies, and for an undergraduate global learning semester program for students currently enrolled at other universities around the world. For more information visit www.dukekunshan.edu.cn.
