While some of the Sanford School’s study and research takes place in far-flung locations, a great deal of our scholarship is located in North America. Faculty members research some of the most pressing issues of our time related to health, energy, the environment, media and societal concerns such as inequality, education, governance and food policy. They explore such issues in Canada and Mexico as well as in the United States.
We also have robust partnerships within our hometown, the city of Durham, N.C. For example, researchers use data provided by the school system to research vital policy questions including investment in pre-kindergarten programs.
Students have also formed an effective program in which groups of students from diverse disciplines including public policy, business and engineering team up to help a local nonprofit solve a problem. How should a nonprofit keep its volunteer data safe? How can a nonprofit best showcase its success? Each semester dozens of students are working on such practical issues.
Professor Bruce Jentleson has been awarded a distinguished professorship, the William Preston Few Professor of Public Policy. The William Preston Few chair is named for the first president of Duke University (1924-1940) and the fifth president of its predecessor, Trinity College (1910-1924).
What motivates commuters to leave their cars behind, and take the bus or a bike to work instead? A government innovation team in Durham, North Carolina recently tested several ideas with real commuters. The best one was so effective, it landed a million-dollar prize from Bloomberg Philanthropies.
