Dean Nancy C. Andrews, MD, PhD, sent the following announcement to School of Medicine faculty to announce the naming of the School's Center for Health Education in honor of the late Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans.
I am pleased to share the news that Duke University’s Board of Trustees has approved naming the School of Medicine’s new Center for Health Education in honor of the late Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans, a philanthropist with a lifelong commitment to the University.
Mary’s unwavering support for the School’s missions of research, education and patient care was a source of inspiration to our faculty and students. She always had a presence on the campus, and it is fitting that the School of Medicine’s new home for health education be named in her honor so that her legacy will be a constant reminder now and in the future.
As you may know, Mary died on January 25, 2012 at the age of 91. Her grandfather, Benjamin Newton Duke, his brother, James B. Duke, and their father, Washington Duke, were Duke’s chief benefactors. In 1924, James B. Duke established the Duke Endowment, which is one of the largest private foundations in the country. Mary was a Trustee of the Duke Endowment for 55 years and served as its first female Chairman from 1982-2001.
The new Center for Health Education, formerly known as the Learning Center, was initially funded with $35 million from the Duke Endowment, and additional gifts from alumni, students, faculty and friends have brought us very close to covering the full cost of the building. It remains on schedule to be completed in late Fall 2012. Classes will begin in the new building in January 2013.
Mary’s unwavering support for the School’s missions of research, education and patient care was a source of inspiration to our faculty and students. She always had a presence on the campus, and it is fitting that the School of Medicine’s new home for health education be named in her honor so that her legacy will be a constant reminder now and in the future.
As you may know, Mary died on January 25, 2012 at the age of 91. Her grandfather, Benjamin Newton Duke, his brother, James B. Duke, and their father, Washington Duke, were Duke’s chief benefactors. In 1924, James B. Duke established the Duke Endowment, which is one of the largest private foundations in the country. Mary was a Trustee of the Duke Endowment for 55 years and served as its first female Chairman from 1982-2001.
The new Center for Health Education, formerly known as the Learning Center, was initially funded with $35 million from the Duke Endowment, and additional gifts from alumni, students, faculty and friends have brought us very close to covering the full cost of the building. It remains on schedule to be completed in late Fall 2012. Classes will begin in the new building in January 2013.