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10/20/2026

What healthy habit keeps slipping away?

Maybe you planned to walk every day, meal prep, strength train or meditate — but life got in the way. Working@Duke is seeking Duke staff and faculty who have struggled to start or maintain healthy habits.

Was it time, motivation, your environment or something else? Share your experience, and it may be included in a story pairing real employee challenges with expert advice on building lasting habits.

Tell Us Your Story: https://du.ke/ShareYourStory

10/19/2026

A fall while climbing 19,341-feet to the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro taught Duke's Fuqua School of Business professor Ashleigh Shelby Rosette a lesson about leadership: “It is about recovering without letting one misstep define the journey.”

After a nine-day climb with her 17-year-old son, Cosa, Rosette came away with lessons about preparation, teamwork, adapting to challenges and keeping perspective. Read how she connected the climb to her work studying leadership.

And if you have an extreme adventure of your own that has taught you lessons, share it in the comments.

The Leadership Lessons Waiting on Mount Kilimanjaro After a nine-day, 19,341-foot climb with her son, Fuqua Professor Ashleigh Shelby Rosette found lessons in preparation, teamwork and recovering from a misstep Image Ashleigh Shelby Rosette scaled Mount Kilimanjaro over the summer and learned lesson...

10/19/2026

Duke University Hospital's new delivery robots have made some new four-legged acquaintances. 🐶🤖

The autonomous robots, named FloBot, R2-DU and WALL-D, are part of a pilot program designed to transport medications and supplies throughout the hospital.

Before the robots began making deliveries between inpatient areas of the hospital, therapy dogs from Pets at Duke had a chance to meet them. The meet-and-greet helped ensure the dogs wouldn’t be startled if a robot moved or made a sound.

“It was a blast having our dogs meet the new robots,” said Kevlin Swepston, Pets at Duke Coordinator.

10/17/2026

Minutes after its predawn liftoff Monday morning from Cape Canaveral in Florida, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket streaked across the sky above Durham as it headed into orbit.

Back on earth Duke Engineering & Operations Biological Containment Facility Maintenance Mechanic Scott Tutor made sure the first task of his day allowed him an opportunity to witness the scene above.

While checking on the roof-mounted ventilation equipment on top of the GSRB1 Building, Tutor was able to snap a photo of the rocket on his iPhone as it lit up the sky above Duke University Chapel.

“I loved it, it was perfect,” Tutor said of the photo, which also catches the first rays of sunrise on the chapel’s tower.

Tutor, who has been at Duke 37 years, shared the photo with us.

“I’m not really a photographer, but I just love being able to see these launches,” he said.

If you capture any cool moments on – or above – your Duke University or Duke Health workspace, we’d love to see them. Send them to us at https://duke.is/ShareYourNews

10/16/2026

Nine months after COVID-19 pushed many Duke employees off campus, a 2021 survey showed how much work had changed: 74% of respondents preferred working remotely three to five days a week.

Today, remote and hybrid work remain part of Duke life.

LOOK BACK: https://bit.ly/WatD20th

10/15/2026

Sometimes, creating stronger connections at work starts with simply making time to sit down and talk.

That’s what Duke University School of Nursing staff did through Midday Meetups, a series of lunchtime gatherings that brought together small groups of colleagues from different parts of the school.

The conversations uncovered unexpected connections: one staff member had worked as a beekeeper, another had guided airplanes around airport tarmacs, and two colleagues discovered they were both from Fayetteville.

The gatherings offered something that can be hard to find in a hybrid workplace: unstructured time to get to know colleagues.

A post-event survey found that every participant surveyed learned something new about a colleague from another department and said the meetups increased their sense of connection and belonging.

Some participants have even continued meeting for lunch on their own.

Check out the story to see how the idea took shape and what happened when coworkers made time to connect. Then tell us: What’s one question you’d ask a colleague to spark a meaningful conversation?

How Duke’s School of Nursing Put Connection on the Menu “Midday Meetups” bring staff together across teams for conversations designed to build trust, belonging and stronger workplace relationships Image Staff members from the Duke University School of Nursing got to know each other better thro...

10/13/2026

Finding a volunteer opportunity that works for you — or your team — can start with a visit to Penn Pavilion on campus on Oct. 19.

Duke’s 49th annual Volunteer Fair will bring representatives from more than 50 Triangle nonprofits together from 11 a.m.-3 p.m., giving Duke University and Duke Health community members a chance to explore local service opportunities.

“We see volunteer engagement as an important measure of Duke’s community impact,” said Tuere Bowles, Duke Community Affairs Associate Vice President for Operations, Research and Advancement.

Keep reading for more details and how to use ConnectCommunity to find opportunities that fit your interests.

Do you currently volunteer? Tell us about how you’re giving back in the comments.

Find A Volunteering Opportunity During Duke’s Annual Fair on Oct. 19 More than 50 area nonprofits will be on campus to provide staff, faculty and students with information about service opportunities Image Students, staff and faculty are able to meet with representatives from area nonprofits at Du...

10/12/2026

When Duke Raleigh’s Ranada Byrd was diagnosed with cancer, she was a busy 35-year-old mom.

At 43, the Jesse Summers was cherishing the opportunity to teach students at the Kenan Institute for Ethics when he was diagnosed.

Duke Human Resources’ Cherrelle Blackwell, who was 35 when she was diagnosed, was trying to start a family, while the Duke University Graduate School's Kristen Mirek, who was 36 when she was diagnosed, was enjoying being married.

Their cancers differed, but their experiences show some of the realities younger adults can face, from the uncertainty of a diagnosis to the challenges of treatment, support and survivorship.

“Cancer has traditionally been thought of as the disease of people who are older,” said Duke Medical Oncologist and American Cancer Society Chief Patient Officer Dr. Arif Kamal. “Unfortunately, we’ve seen it nationally and, anecdotally, here at Duke: there are more examples of patients now showing up with cancer in their 20s, 30s and 40s.”

These stories about the cancer journeys of Duke University, Duke Health team members come as diagnoses of 14 types of cancer are rising among people under 50 nationally.

Image Clockwise from top left: Duke employees Kristen Mirek, Ranada Byrd, Jesse Summers and Cherrelle Bullock were all diagnosed with cancer before the age of 50. Portraits by Travis Stanley. Caption Close Image Clockwise from top left: Duke employees Kristen Mirek, Ranada Byrd, Jesse Summers and Ch...

10/10/2026

Find ways to focus on your health and well-being at the LIVE FOR LIFE Employee Health Fair from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 15. on the Duke Medicine Pavilion Greenway, just outside the Trent Semans Center for Health Education.

The event, hosted by Duke’s employee wellness program, will feature Duke organizations such as Duke Athletics, the DUH Wellness Committee, Duke Human Resources and the Duke Office of the Ombuds, along with fitness activities from LIVE FOR LIFE, the Duke Health and Fitness Center and Duke Recreation & Physical Education.

Schedule a chair massage, receive a health assessment and visit community vendors throughout the event.

“The goal of the health fair is to improve the well-being of the Duke community by educating them about the resources available to them in an inviting and engaging way,” said Cheyanne Oakley, LIVE FOR LIFE Health Promotion Program Manager.

Mark your calendar and stop by!

10/08/2026

More than 240 Duke communicators came together last week to sharpen their craft, share ideas and celebrate some of the outstanding work happening across Duke.

At the second annual Insights Summit, communicators from across Duke University and Duke Health explored storytelling, audience connection, problem-solving and the evolving role of AI under the theme “One Duke, Many Voices, Shared Purpose.”

The day recognized communicators from the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke, the Duke Clinical Research Institute, the Duke University School of Medicine, Duke Engineering, the Sarah P. Duke Gardens, Working@Duke and the Duke Divinity School.
President Vincent Price underscored why the work matters.

“We need storytellers and writers, we need graphic designers, multimedia producers, social media specialists, media relations experts … who can interpret our mission to people who, from the outside, may not appreciate or understand what we do,” Price said. “We need everyone in this room to promote Duke in ways that resonate with people.”

See photos, learn about ideas shared and meet the award winners from this year’s summit.

A Celebration of the Duke Storytellers The second annual Insights Summit brought together communicators across campus Image Vice President of Communications, Marketing and Public Affairs moderated a chat with Dr. David Zaas and Dr. Mary E. Klotman, of Duke Health. Caption Close Image Vice President....