The Fuqua School of Business is the business school of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Consistently ranked in the top 15, Fuqua (pronounced few-qua) is the youngest of the top-tier U.S. business schools. It currently enrolls 1,340 students in degree-seeking programs. These programs include the Daytime MBA, the Global Executive MBA, the Cross Continent MBA, the Weekend Executive MBA, and a Ph.D. program. Duke Executive Education and Duke Corporate Education offer non-degree business education and professional development programs which are ranked number one in the world by the Financial Times.
Duke's Fuqua School of Business had humble beginnings. Formed in 1969, the graduate school enrolled its first class of 20 students in 1970. Unfortunately, the school's initial years were quite tumultuous. Only 12 of the students in the initial class chose to graduate. The school's initial dean, Louis Volpe, left for Columbia University in 1973. In 1974, it operated out of the basement of Duke's Social Sciences building on West Campus with a budget of just $1 million. Donors, students, and corporate recruiters publically expressed their unhappiness with the school's direction. At this point in its history, some of Duke's trustees began to reconsider their support for the graduate school.
However, in 1974, Thomas F. Keller, a 1953 Duke graduate, became the graduate school's new dean. This served as a turning point in the school's history. Keller quickly improved the school's fortune. He embarked upon a capital campaign in 1978 with the goal of raising $20 million to erect a buildling, increase the number of M.B.A. students from sixty to 250, and more than double the size of the faculty. In three years, the campaign raised $24 million, $10 million of which came from businessman and philanthrophist J.B. Fuqua. The graduate school's name was then changed to the Fuqua School of Business.
Rankings
In 2006 Global MBA Rankings, The Financial Times ranked Fuqua the 27th, down from 18th in 2005. US News and World Report ranked Fuqua 11th in their 2006 Top Business Schools Ranking.
Interesting Facts
Fuqua is host to the World MBA Rugby Championships
