Inaugural Faculty Hired for Duke Kunshan Undergraduate Program

Duke Kunshan University has hired its founding faculty for its 4-year undergraduate degree program set to launch in Fall 2018.

Twenty-three candidates from an initial pool of 1,300 applicants from around the world were presented with offers after a search process that began in Spring 2017. Twenty-two of those candidates ‘ in natural sciences and engineering, social sciences, and humanities ‘ will join Duke Kunshan beginning in January 2018.

Duke Kunshan eventually will hire approximately 120 full-time tenured, tenure track and non-tenured faculty for its undergraduate program, said Noah Pickus, dean of undergraduate curricular affairs and faculty development at Duke Kunshan.

‘The remarkable success of our global faculty recruitment underscores that Duke Kunshan University is operating at the highest level of quality,’ said Denis Simon, executive vice chancellor at Duke Kunshan University. ‘Our innovative curriculum and interdisciplinary academic culture are drawing the best faculty from around the world. Students can fully engage with these incredible professors with whom they will study closely in small, interactive courses.’

The newly hired Duke Kunshan faculty will teach alongside professors from Duke University and English and Chinese Language faculty at Duke Kunshan. These visiting faculty from Duke include leading scholars and teachers in philosophy, political science, math, physics, data science, economics, public policy, and global health. This huge faculty recruitment success resulted from a close partnership involving Pickus, Haiyan Gao, vice chancellor for academic affairs at Duke Kunshan University, Jennifer Francis, vice provost for academic affairs at Duke, Liguo Zhang, director of global academic program development in the Duke Office of Duke Kunshan University Programs, and the search committees at Duke.

‘We are delighted by the stature of Duke faculty who are committed to ongoing teaching and research at Duke Kunshan,’ Gao said. ‘These faculty are among Duke’s most respected scholars and teachers in fields ranging from comparative philosophy to compressive holography. They are the perfect complement to the stellar group of full-time faculty we have hired at Duke Kunshan.’

The 22 faculty hires come from eight different countries ‘ in North America, Asia and Europe. The fourteen men and eight women bring considerable teaching experience at top liberal arts colleges and research universities, Pickus said. ‘The search committees identified significant opportunities in hiring these candidates as they will simultaneously establish Duke Kunshan as a site of teaching strength as well as research in key areas in arts and humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences,’ Pickus added.

‘From January to June 2018, the Duke Kunshan undergraduate faculty will work with Duke Learning Innovation to incorporate all we know about engaging students, working in groups, using educational technologies, and connecting student learning and research,’ Pickus said. ‘These faculty will define a new standard of teaching excellence in liberal arts education.’

The next round of searches for Duke Kunshan faculty is now underway for positions that are flexible with regard to rank, including tenured, tenure track and non-tenured faculty. Duke Kunshan is especially interested in considering advanced assistant professors to full professors. Position descriptions along with contact information can be found on the Duke Kunshan website. Applications will continue to be accepted after the formal deadline of December 1, 2017.

A Faculty-led Small-group Discussion

Faculty Members on A Field Trip with Students

A Faculty Member Talking with Students During A Class Break

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Gareth McPherson

Email: gareth.mcpherson@dukekunshan.edu.cn

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