Duke University is located in Durham, North Carolina. The university was founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day town of Trinity in 1838. The school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James Buchanan Duke established The Duke Endowment, prompting the institution to change its name in honor of his deceased father, Washington Duke.

The University is organized into two undergraduate and eight graduate schools. The undergraduate student body comes from all 50 U.S. states and 106 countries. In its 2009 edition, U.S. News & World Report ranked the university's undergraduate program eighth among national universities, while the medical, law, and business schools were ranked among the top 11 in the country.

Duke's research expenditures are among the largest 20 in the U.S. and its athletic program is one of the nation's elite. The Athletic teams compete in the ACC and have won nine national championships, including three by the men's basketball team.

Besides academics, research, and athletics, Duke is also well known for its sizable campus and Gothic architecture, especially Duke Chapel.

Duke started as Brown's Schoolhouse.

In 1924, Washington Duke's son, James B. Duke, established The Duke Endowment with a $40 million trust fund.

Engineering became a separate school in 1939. Duke hosted and competed in the only Rose Bowl ever played outside California.

The Levine Science Research Center is the largest single-site interdisciplinary research facility of any American university.

Duke University's growth and academic focus have contributed to the university's reputation as an academic and research institution.

In the 2004 fiscal year, research expenditures surpassed $490 million.

Duke's student body consists of 6,244 undergraduates and 6,844 graduate and professional students. The undergraduate student body contains 40% ethnic minorities. They come from all 50 U.S. states and 106 countries. This year Duke received 20,400 applications and accepted only about twenty percent of them.

Duke University's endowment was valued at $5.9 billion in 2007.

Duke offers 36 arts and sciences majors, four engineering majors, and 46 additional majors that have been approved under Program II. Program II allows students to design their own interdisciplinary major. Sixteen certificate programs also are available. Students may pursue a combination of a total of up to three majors/minors/certificates.

The Allen Building, opened in 1954, is home to many of the university's top-level administrative offices.

Duke University owns 220 buildings on 9,350 acres of land. That includes the 7,200 acre Duke Forest. The campus is divided into four main areas: West, East, and Central campuses, and the Medical Center.

Duke students often refer to the campus as "the Gothic Wonderland." The nickname refers to the Gothic revival architecture of West Campus.

West Campus, the heart of Duke University, houses all the sophomores, along with some juniors and seniors.

East Campus, the original location of Duke University, functions as a freshman campus as well as the home of several academic departments.

Central Campus is located between East and West campuses. It houses around 850 juniors and seniors and 200 professional students in apartments.

The Duke Forest today consists of 7,200 acres in six divisions just west of Duke University's West Campus.

Duke's 26 varsity sports teams are known as the Blue Devils.

In the past ten years, Duke has finished in the top 30 every year in the NACDA Director's Cup, which is an overall measure of an institution's athletic success.

Duke's men's basketball team is one the nation's most successful basketball programs in the country.

The team's success has been particularly outstanding over the past 25 years under coach Mike Krzyzewski. Since his name is hard to pronounce, he is referred to as "Coach K."

Writer and editor, Freddie Brister, is a former high school football coach of 25 years. His love of the game of football is reflected in his words and memories of growing up in the South and playing football in the back yard with his brother, cousins and neighborhood friends. His biggest thrill is watching former high school players he has coached play at the college level. His favorite pastime is watching college football on TV and attending the games in person every chance he gets. Freddie Brister is a huge fan of the SEC and the Duke Blue Devils. Check out his Duke Blue Devil Merchandise at Duke Blue Devils merchandise and Duke Blue Devils wallets.

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