Notable figures

Julian Abele: Prominent African-American architect who designed Duke Wilhemina Reuben-Cooke, Mary Mitchell Harris, Gene Kendall, Cassandra Smith Rush, and Nathaniel White Jr.: The “First Five” Black undergraduates at Duke Yao-ju “Charlie” Soong: Trinity College’s first international student came from China in 1881 Joseph S. Maytubby: first Native American student to graduate from Trinity College in 1896 Alice M. Baldwin: inaugural Dean of Women and the first woman to have full faculty status at Duke Andres Rodriguez-Diago y Gomez: the first Latinx student at Duke came from Colombia in 1925 Reginaldo Howard: First African American President of Associated Students of Duke University, namesake of the Reginaldo Howard Leadership Program. In April 2024, the Reginaldo Howard Memorial Scholarship transitioned into the Reginaldo Howard Leadership Program. The Reginaldo Howard Leadership Program will honor “Reggie” Howard’s legacy by supporting Black academic excellence, intellectual community, and leadership on campus through an intentionally designed series of engagement opportunities.

Lisa Borders '79: President, WNBA Melissa Bernstein ’87: Cofounder, Melissa & Doug toys Tim Cook MBA’88: CEO, Apple Melinda French Gates ‘86, MBA ‘87: co-founder of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Grant Hill '94: Seven-time NBA All-Star. Turner Sports and NBA-TV broadcaster Ken Jeong ’90: Comedian, TV and film actor (The Ken Jeong Show, The Hangover, Knocked Up) Ibtihaj Mohammad ‘07: Bronze medalist in fencing at the 2016 Olympics Richard Nixon JD’37: 37th president of the United States Mike Posner ’09: Singer/songwriter David M. Rubenstein ’70: Philanthropist and cofounder of The Carlyle Group, Recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Biden Adam Silver ’84: Commissioner, NBA Retta Sirleaf ‘92: Comedian and actress on Parks and Recreation Luis von Ahn ’00: Inventor of CAPTCHA Internet security system; CEO and co-founder, Duolingo Jeff Zients ‘88: White House Chief of Staff