Duke Honors 31 New Distinguished Professors

Published: March 25, 2025

Tags: Faculty; Awards and Honors

Schools: Divinity School; Nicholas School of the Environment; Pratt School of Engineering; Sanford School of Public Policy; School of Law; School of Medicine; School of Nursing; Trinity College of Arts & Sciences

Scholars

Professor of Medicine
Chief, Division of Infectious Diseases
Professor of Cell Biology
Professor in Molecular Genetics and Microbiology

Professor of Medicine
Chief, Division of Geriatrics in the Department of Medicine
Senior Fellow in the Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development

Professor in Pediatrics
Associate Professor in Molecular Genetics and Microbiology
Affiliate of the Duke Regeneration Center

Professor of Mathematics

Professor of Chemistry
Member of the Duke Cancer Institute

Professor of Neurology
Director of the Epilepsy Lab in the Department of Neurology
Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Professor of Cell Biology
Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Member of the Duke Cancer Institute

Professor of Statistical Science

Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Interim Chair, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology

Professor of Law

Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology
Vice-Chair in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology
Professor in Cell Biology
Professor of Integrative Immunobiology
Professor of Medicine
Member of the Duke Cancer Institute

Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Co-Division Director of Child and Family Mental Health and Community Psychiatry
Clinical Professor in the School of Nursing
Professor of Pediatrics
Affiliate of the Center for Child and Family Policy
Core Faculty Member, Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy

Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology
Professor of Neurobiology
Member of the Duke Cancer Institute
Professor of Cell Biology
Faculty Network Member of the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences
Associate of the Duke Initiative for Science & Society

Professor of Pediatrics
Professor in Immunology
Member of the Duke Human Vaccine Institute

Professor of Medicine
Director of the Duke Clinical and Translational Science Institute
Vice Dean for Clinical Research
Member of the Duke Human Vaccine Institute
Member in the Duke Clinical Research Institute

Professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy
Professor in the Department of Economics
Professor in the Division of Environmental Sciences and Policy
Affiliate of the Duke Center for International Development
Associate of the Duke Initiative for Science & Society
Faculty Research Scholar of DuPRI's Population Research Center

Professor of Law

Professor in the Division of Earth and Climate Science
Professor in the Division of Environmental Science and Policy

Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Interim Co-Division Director of Behavioral Medicine and Neurosciences
Chair of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

Professor of Ophthalmology
Vice Chair of Research Strategy
Professor in Pathology
Professor in Integrative Immunobiology
Faculty Network Member of the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences

Chief of Hematologic Malignancies and Cellular Therapy
Professor of Medicine
Professor of Integrative Immunobiology
Member of the Duke Cancer Institute

Professor of Neurobiology
Professor of Cell Biology
Member of the Duke Cancer Institute
Faculty Network Member of the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences

Professor of Economics
Co-Director of Admissions for PhD Program of Economics

Consulting Associate in the School of Nursing

Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology

Professor of Biochemistry
Professor of Chemistry
Member of the Duke Cancer Institute

Professor of Biology

Jo Rae Wright University Distinguished Professor
Professor in the Divinity School
Professor of English

Muriel Theodorsen Williams E'46 Distinguished Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Director of the NSF Engineering Research Center for Microbiome Engineering (PreMiEr)
Professor in the Division of Environmental Science and Policy
Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Marie Foote Reel E'46 Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Professor of Computer Science

��ţӰ�� has awarded distinguished professorships to 31 faculty members and will recognize them in a ceremony at the Washington Duke Inn on May 14.

“I am very proud to recognize these outstanding faculty colleagues with distinguished professorships,” said President Vincent E. Price. “Through their extraordinary scholarship and teaching, they are advancing solutions, inventions and cures that will uplift humankind and make a lasting difference in the world.”

Distinguished professorships honor faculty who are well-established members of the Duke academic community and have also achieved distinction as creative scholars in their field or in their ability to transcend disciplines.

“Congratulations to these exceptional scholars on earning distinguished professorships from ��ţӰ��,” said Provost Alec D. Gallimore. “Their contributions to their fields and to Duke’s intellectual community are truly impressive and I am proud to call them colleagues.”

During its February meeting, Duke’s Board of Trustees approved the awarding of Distinguished Professorships to the following faculty, effective July 1, 2025 or thereafter:

James Andrew Alspaugh II (Department of Medicine), James B. Duke Distinguished Professor

Cathleen Sellner Colón-Emeric (Department of Medicine), James B. Wyngaarden Distinguished Professor

Gregory E. Crawford (Department of Pediatrics), Wilburt C. Davison Distinguished Professor

Samit Dasgupta (Department of Mathematics), James B. Duke Distinguished Professor

Katherine J. Franz (Department of Chemistry), James B. Duke Distinguished Professor

Birgit Frauscher (Department of Neurobiology), Lincoln Financial Group Distinguished Professor

Amy Susanne Gladfelter (Department of Cell Biology, Biomedical Engineering), Duke Health Distinguished Professor

Peter David Hoff (Department of Statistical Science), James B. Duke Distinguished Professor

Brenna L Hughes (Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology), Edwin Crowell Hamblen Distinguished Professor of Reproductive Biology and Family Planning

Marin K. Levy (School of Law), Melvin Shimm Distinguished Professor

Micah Alan Luftig (Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology), Alter Geller Distinguished Professor in Immunology

Gary Ross Maslow (Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences), Gorrell Family Distinguished Professor in Children's Psychiatry

Hiroaki Matsunami (Molecular Genetics and Microbiology), Minnie Geller Distinguished Professor in Genetics

Michael Anthony Moody (Department of Pediatrics), J. Buren Sidbury Distinguished Professor

Susanna Naggie (Department of Medicine), Catherine Wilfert Distinguished Professor

Alexander Pfaff (Sanford School of Public Policy), Bernard Rhodes Distinguished Professor

Shitong Qiao (School of Law), Ken Young-Gak Yun and Jinah Park Yun Distinguished Professor

Daniel D. Richter (Nicholas School of the Environment), Theodore S. Coile Distinguished Professor in the Division of Earth and Climate Sciences

Moira Ann Rynn (Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences), J.P. Gibbons Distinguished Professor

Daniel Raphael Saban (Department of Ophthalmology), Joseph A.C. Wadsworth Distinguished Professor

Stefanie Sarantopoulos (Department of Medicine), James Wyngaarden Distinguished Professor

Anne Elizabeth West (Department of Neurobiology), George Barth Geller Distinguished Professor

Daniel Yi Xu (Department of Economics), Rubenstein Distinguished Professor

Jun Yang (Department of Computer Science), Knut Schmidt Nielsen Distinguished Professor

Lawrence Yang (School of Nursing), Pauline Gratz Distinguished Professor

Steven L Young (Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology), F. Bayard Carter Distinguished Professor

Pei Zhou (Department of Biochemistry), James B. Duke Distinguished Professor

Tai-ping Sun (Department of Biology), John Carlisle Kilgo Distinguished Professor

In addition, three faculty members awarded Distinguished Professorships that took effect in 2024, will also be honored at the ceremony:

Kevin Hart (Divinity School), Jo Rae Wright University Distinguished Professor

Claudia K. Gunsch (Civil and Environmental Engineering), Muriel Theodorsen Williams E’46 Distinguished Professor

Professor Hai "Helen” Li (Electrical and Computer Engineering), Marie Foote Reel E’46 Distinguished Professor

For a complete list of Duke’s Distinguished Professors, visit the .

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