Duke Kunshan University

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  Exterior of the Innovation Building
  Jan. 2010 – A Cooperation Agreement signed between Duke University and the People's Government of Kunshan[6]
• Sep. 2010 – Construction of Phase 1 campus started
• Jan. 2011 – Cooperation Principles Statement signed between Duke University and Wuhan University
• Jun. 2011 – Application for Preparation Approval of Duke Kunshan University submitted to Jiangsu Provincial Bureau of Education
• Aug. 2012 – Preparation Approval from the Chinese Ministry of Education
• Sep. 2012 – Appointments of Duke Kunshan Chancellor and Executive Vice Chancellor
• Dec. 2012 – Celebration Ceremony of Preparation Approval in Kunshan
• Apr. 2013 – Application for formal establishment of Duke Kunshan University submitted to Jiangsu Provincial Bureau of Education
• Sep. 2013 – Duke Kunshan Establishment Approval granted by the Chinese Ministry of Education
• Nov. 2013 – First meeting of Duke Kunshan Board of Trustees held at Wuhan University
• Dec. 2013 – Duke Kunshan legal entity registration completed
• Jan. 2014 – Duke Kunshan Advisory Board established
• Apr. 2014 – Second Meeting of Duke Kunshan Board of Trustees held in Kunshan
• May 2014 – First meeting of Duke Kunshan Advisory Board held in Beijing
• Jul. 2014 – Duke Kunshan MMS program began in Durham
• Aug. 2014 – Inaugural Convocation and Orientation Week held at Duke Kunshan University
• Aug. 2018 – Inaugural Undergraduate Program begins[7]
• Aug 2019 – Innovation Building opened, construction of Phase 2 campus started

Duke Kunshan University is governed by an independent Board of Trustees, with members from Duke University and Wuhan University.[8] Liu Jingnan, the university's first chancellor and a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, stepped down in August 2018.[9]

Youmei Feng, the current Chancellor, is the former executive vice president of Wuhan University and is one of a few female university chancellors in China.[9] Denis Simon, Executive Vice Chancellor, is an expert on U.S.-China bilateral science and technology relations and a member of the U.S. Experts Group within the U.S.-China Innovation Dialogue. Haiyan Gao, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at Duke Kunshan University, is also the Henry Newson professor of physics at Duke University.

Marcia France was appointed Dean of Undergraduate Studies in June 2018. France was previously the associate provost at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, USA.

Panorama of the central business district of Kunshan, Jiangsu, China

Duke Kunshan is located in a 200-acre campus in Kunshan, a city in southeastern Jiangsu province. The campus will become the center of the Duke Creative Park, part of the city's “Five Zones, One Line” plan for urban renewal. The area will host the Sino-US (Kunshan) Technology Innovation Center and serve as a mixed-used project integrating R&D centers, business services, and ecological parks.[17]

Adjacent to campus is the Dayu Bay Commercial Street, which features a Starbucks, a dozen restaurants, convenience store, social hall, clothing and sporting good shops, and a Duke-themed sports bar.[18] The Blue Oasis, Duke Kunshan's student center, opened at Dayu Bay in October 2019.[19]

Kunshan's location between Shanghai and Suzhou allows easy access to these major metropolitan centers by highways and high-speed railway.[20]

The campus blends traditional Chinese elements with advanced educational technology in a spacious, modern setting. Extensive aquatic elements, including an aquatic quadrangle at the center of campus, symbolize the region's famous water towns and are integrated throughout the campus, while information technology and Telepresence systems provide connections to colleagues and classmates around the world. The site has a high water table, so designers elected to preserve 40 acres as community gardens.[21]

Panorama of Phase I of the "Water Feature", which separates the Academic Building (L), Conference Center (R) and Innovation Center (Background).

The campus is being constructed in phases, with Phase I designed by American design and architecture firm Gensler.[22] Phase 1 facilities include an academic building with a variety of classroom configurations, a 200-bed dormitory building, a conference center and hotel, a faculty residence, and an administration building. An innovation center equipped with a library, classrooms and team rooms was opened in 2019.

Phase 2 is scheduled for completion in 2021,[23] designed by Perkins and Will,[24] and will feature an expansion of undergraduate, graduate, and faculty housing, a community center, recreation center, the WD Research Institute, and a library.[25] The 71.3 acre Duke Kunshan Gardens are also currently under construction, and are scheduled for completion in 2021.[26]

Later plans call for Phase III and IV construction to take place in the coming decade.[23] The Duke Kunshan University project is expected to last at least 50–100 years.

As part of the partnership between Duke University, Wuhan University, and the city of Kunshan, the municipal government has leased the Duke Kunshan University campus to the university at no cost for the first ten years as well as paying for construction of the buildings.[27]

View of the Academic Building

• Global Health Research Center (1st research center at Duke Kunshan)[29]
• Regional Ozone Sino-US Collaborative Research Center
• WHU-DUKE Research Institute at Duke Kunshan
• Center for the Study of Contemporary China
• Humanities Research Center
• Environmental Research Center[30][31]

The Global Health Research Center (GHRC), founded in 2013, is the first research center at Duke Kunshan University. The GHRC uses innovative approaches to research and solve important health and health policy challenges in China and around the world. The GHRC is built on the principles of scientific excellence and focuses on establishing interdisciplinary, mutually-beneficial collaborations with researchers from China. It will host national and international conferences to disseminate research findings and encourage dialogue among scientists, professionals, policy-makers and other key stakeholders engaged in global health.

The GHRC focuses on four research areas: emerging infectious diseases, environmental health, health policy and systems, and non-communicable chronic diseases. Between 2013–2018, researchers at the GHRC have published over 160 peer-reviewed papers in a variety of journals including the Lancet, Lancet Global Health, JAMA, JAMA Internal Medicine, Circulation, PLOS Medicine, American Journal of Public Health, and American Journal of Epidemiology.

The faculty and research activities complement the global health education programs offered at Duke Kunshan University, including the Master of Science in Global Health and the undergraduate semester courses in global health.

The Environmental Research Center draws knowledge from an array of fields together to tackle the most pressing environmental challenges in China, Asia and the world. Experts and scholars cooperate and inspire each other over the discussion and research on topics such as energy, climate change, water, ecosystem conservation, environment and public health. The center has become a platform where policy problems come for solutions and where knowledge and talents serve the society.

• International Meteorite Conference, Meteorite China – Duke Kunshan University hosted China's first-ever international meteorite conference on 15 September 2017. Over 80 scientists from China, the U.S., the U.K., Australia, and Russia met at the three-day event. Enthusiasts and meteorite collectors also participated in the conference.[32]

• Official website (in English)
• Official website (in Chinese)

31°25′3.67″N 120°53′35.96″E