Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1838 by Methodists and Quakers in present-day Trinity, North Carolina, and moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, James Buchanan Duke, an industrialist in tobacco and electric power, established the Duke Endowment, renaming the institution in honor of his father, Washington Duke. Duke University is one of the corners of the Research Triangle, together with North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The university's campus spans over 8,600 acres. Duke's athletic teams, the Blue Devils, compete in the NCAA Division I and are a charter member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The university maintains a historic affiliation with the United Methodist Church. For undergraduates in Fall 2024, the top five majors are Computer Science, Economics, Biology, Public Policy, and Psychology. As of 2024, Duke's endowment is valued at $11.9 billion, making it one of the wealthiest private academic institutions in the United States.
