Together, William W. Johnston, MD’59, and Charles R. West have a more than half a century of combined service to Duke University. To be in their presence is to be regaled by one astonishing and often hilarious story after another. And yet they say their most recent undertaking—establishing an estate gift that will endow a […]

On Tuesday, June 5th, the Office of Gift Planning hosted the 15th annual Duke Heritage Society luncheon at the Washington Duke Inn Hotel & Golf Club. Our team looks forward to this event each year, and it was wonderful to spend a beautiful afternoon with local Duke alumni and friends. We host this lunch as a […]

Kristin and Tom Clyde recall their time at Duke Law School fondly. Duke Law prepared them for their future legal careers and it was where they first met and began numerous friendships. In honor of their 20th reunion, they named Duke Law a beneficiary of their account. They hope their support will help the school […]

Photo by Kim Sims, courtesy of the Duke University Archives The Duke community recently said “good bye” to a long-time campus resident, friend and generous donor. Eleanore (“Elli”) Jantz passed away this past summer at the age of 104. She was the last private resident of the faculty houses lining Campus Drive leading up to […]

Michael Schwartz M.H.A.’71, J.D.’82, P’94 attributes many of his blessings in life to Duke. Before attending Duke, Michael was an army infantry officer. He received his masters and law degree from Duke, then worked at Duke Medical Center for 12 years. He and his wife, Phyllis, established two charitable gift annuities in appreciation for Duke […]

Chun Lam has spent the last decade contemplating the meaning of life. After careful consideration, he’s arrived at the conclusion: The part of us that lives on after we are gone is what we give back. “As I become older, I have started to get more philosophical about the world. We are not here for […]

Thanks to the generosity of Duke alumnus, Joel Martin ’48, an important part of Duke history has recently returned to Durham. With the help of his daughter, Elizabeth Martin, Martin donated an original pen and ink architectural drawing of Duke Chapel by Julian Abele, a prominent African-American architect and chief designer in the officers of […]

It’s never too early to being planning for your future. Contrary to popular belief, estate planning is not just for older individuals. In fact, younger people can find the planning process to be both worthwhile and relatively simple to begin. This article from WealthManagement describes the importance of planning for one’s foreseeable future (like marriage, […]

As more Baby Boomers reach retirement age we are seeing greater interest in charitable gifts that help save taxes (pre- or post-retirement) and/or produce lifetime income. In some of these cases, the best gift choice for a donor may involve unlocking the value of appreciation in real estate. Generally, the real estate being considered for […]

In an effort to stimulate the U.S. economy following the onset of The Great Recession in 2008, the Federal Reserve Bank reduced interest rates to historic lows. Post-2008 fixed income investments—including bonds, Certificates of Deposit, and money market funds—fell dramatically and investors who relied heavily on those assets suffered the most. Likewise, the payout rates […]