The Duke Digest - September 20, 2012


In Today's Issue:
  • Classes, Faculty and Alumni Fill Duke in Washington Office
  • Senior Leaders Appointed for Duke Kunshan University
  • New Certificate Program in Environmental Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Nicholas School
  • Duke CFO Study: Hiring and Spending Plans Weaken, Fed Policy Viewed as Ineffective
  • Pratt Joins NASA, U.S. Naval Research Lab to Develop Waterless Toilets

 

CLASSES, FACULTY AND ALUMNI FILL DUKE IN WASHINGTON OFFICE
Since opening its doors in April of this year, Duke in Washington has hosted a stream of meetings and faculty visits, and the start of a new school year has brought a variety of social, scholarly and classroom events.

Read More:
Classes, Faculty and Alumni Fill Duke in Washington Office (Duke News)


SENIOR LEADERS APPOINTED FOR DUKE KUNSHAN UNIVERSITY
Duke University, Wuhan University and the city of Kunshan, China, have appointed experienced senior academic leaders to serve as chancellor and executive vice chancellor of Duke Kunshan University, the three parties announced Thursday.

Liu Jingnan, former president of Wuhan University and a widely respected scholar and scientist, will serve as chancellor of Duke Kunshan University (DKU). Mary Brown Bullock, former president of Agnes Scott College and a scholar of U.S.-China relations, has been appointed as executive vice chancellor.

Read More:
Senior Leaders Appointed for Duke Kunshan University (Duke News)


NEW CERTIFICATE PROGRAM IN ENVIRONMENTAL INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP AT NICHOLAS SCHOOL
Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment will launch a new Certificate Program in Environmental Innovation and Entrepreneurship (EI&E) this fall.

The program will combine classroom instruction, one-on-one mentoring and start-up experience to help students gain the business and leadership skills needed to develop and market new technologies and solutions to society’s most pressing environmental problems. An incubator fund will provide seed money to help launch promising student start-up ideas.

Read More:
New Certificate Program in Environmental Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Nicholas.Duke.edu)


DUKE CFO STUDY: HIRING AND SPENDING PLANS WEAKEN, FED POLICY VIEWED AS INEFFECTIVE
According to the most recent Duke University/CFO Magazine Global Business Outlook survey, U.S. CFOs are growing more pessimistic about the American economy, with hiring and spending plans significantly weakening since last quarter.

Finance chiefs say that their business spending plans are not sensitive to moderate changes in interest rates, suggesting that there is little that the Federal Reserve can do to stimulate investment at this time. In addition, CFO concerns about Europe also have increased in the past three months.

Read More:
CFOs: Hiring and Spending Plans Weaken, Fed Policy Viewed As Ineffective (Fuqua.Duke.edu)


PRATT JOINS NASA, U.S. NAVAL RESEARCH LAB TO DEVELOP WATERLESS TOILETS
Jeff Glass, Hogg Family Director of Engineering Management and Entrepreneurship at Duke, and researchers at RTI International have been awarded a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop a toilet for use in developing nations that converts human waste into burnable fuel, stored energy and disinfected, non-potable water.

Joining the Duke and RTI team in developing a prototype of a safe, sanitary and affordable waste treatment system are NASA’s Ames Research Center, the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, and Colorado State University.The novel waste treatment system could significantly improve public health and quality of life among people in less developed countries.

Read More:
Pratt, RTI to Develop Waterless Toilets (Pratt.Duke.edu)