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As part of Duke Appreciation, Duke pays special tribute to faculty and staff celebrating career service
milestones of 10 years or more at the Night of Duke Stars, an invitation-only event. There are more
than 2,000 employees celebrating a special milestone this year, including two people who have worked
at Duke for 50 years. The following are examples from those celebrating this year of the many roles
and contributions that help make Duke the special place it is today. Additional examples
can be found online.
"...it has always been people who for 30 years, have made Duke the place where I want to be."
Caroline Lattimore
During the 1960s while a high school student inWinston-Salem, Caroline Lattimore was well aware of Duke University — after all, one of her classmates was among the first African-Americans to attend Duke. "I remember hearing about Duke from friends in my community," Lattimore said, adding that she was intrigued by Duke and its efforts to desegregate. Thus, it was no surprise that she later chose to attend Duke for graduate school. Lattimore, associate dean in Trinity College, said it was one of the biggest moves of her life, setting the stage for her future. As a graduate student, she worked as a counselor/educational consultant for what was then Duke's Office of Black Affairs. In that role, she served on the President's Council on Black Affairs under Duke President Terry Sanford, whom Lattimore had long respected. She fondly remembered Sanford as Governor of North Carolina (1961-1965). As a teenager, she said she looked up to him because he was on the cutting edge of the Civil Rights Movement and a proponent of education for all children — both topics dear to Lattimore. When she first saw Sanford on campus, she said it was like meeting a celebrity. "I was in awe," Lattimore said. "It clicked that this was the same man who started the Governor's School in my hometown. When I reflected upon my early years at Duke, Terry Sanford comes to mind immediately." Lattimore completed her doctorate in educational psychology in 1978 and took what she thought was her dream job in Washington, D.C. But six months later she received an offer from Duke to become the first African-American female to serve as Dean of Minority Affairs, a position she held until 1991. "The Duke community had a profound effect on my decision to leave the nation's Capitol and return to Durham," Lattimore said. "For me, it has always been people who for 30 years, have made Duke the place where I want to be." Lattimore has been assistant provost and is also adjunct associate professor in Education. "Looking back, time at Duke has flown so quickly," Lattimore said. "It has been
a great experience."
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