Duke University is a private (private university) research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists (Methodism) and Quakers (Religious Society of Friends) in the present-day town of Trinity (Trinity, North Carolina) in 1838, the school moved to Durham (Durham, North Carolina) 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 (undergraduate education) and ten graduate schools. In its 2010 edition, U.S. News & World Report ranked the universitys undergraduate program 10th among national universities, while ranking the medical (Duke University School of Medicine), law (Duke University School of Law), and business (Fuqua School of Business) schools among the top 14 in the United States.Americas Best Graduate Schools 2009. U.S. News & World Report, 2009. Retrieved on April 23, 2009. Duke University ranked 14th in the 2009 THES - QS World University Rankings.

Dukes research expenditures are among the largest ten in the U.S.cite weburl=Washington Monthly National University Rankings format=PDF year=2009 publisher=The Washington Monthly accessdate=2010-04-23 Competing in the Atlantic Coast Conference, Dukes athletic teams (Duke Blue Devils) have twelve national championships (Division I (NCAA)), including four by its mens basketball team (Duke Blue Devils mens basketball).

Besides academics, research, and athletics, Duke is also well known for its sizable campus and Collegiate Gothic architecture, especially the Duke Chapel. The forests surrounding parts of the campus belie the Universitys proximity to downtown Durham. Dukes 8,610 acres (35 km2) contain three contiguous campuses in Durham as well as a marine lab in Beaufort (Beaufort, North Carolina). Construction projects have updated both the freshmen-populated Georgian-style (Georgian architecture) East Campus and the main Gothic-style West Campus, as well as the adjacent Medical Center (Duke University Health System) over the past five years.