Duke Stars
Caroline Lattimore -- Associate Dean, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences, Duke University
"You can always better yourself and your situation at Duke. There's always a door waiting to be opened."
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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