Academic Distinction

Twenty-five years ago, Elwyn Simons was already a full professor at Yale, but Duke's offer of a James B. Duke professorship in biological anthropology and anatomy was one of several incentives that lured him South in an effort to rescue the Primate Center from financial difficulties.

"[Duke] had to make [the job] look attractive," Simons said.

After arriving at Duke, he directed the Primate Center for several years. One of the first tasks he faced was to prepare a grant proposal to the National Science Foundation, which pays a large fraction of the center's expenses. Simons said the grant has been renewed several times since the initial funding in the 1970s.

Simons also introduced the fossil collection to the Primate Center, and in the early '80s began conducting expeditions to Madagascar and Egypt in order to expand the collection.

"We probably have the best collection of lemur fossils [in the United States]," he said.

Simons is one of the University's 43 currently active James B. Duke professors researching and teaching in several departments around campus. The endowed professorship recognizes scholarly excellence displayed by members of Duke's academic community.

David Schaeffer, James B. Duke Professor of Mathematics, initially arrived at Duke with "a bit of a chip" on his shoulder. That was in 1978, when he had just left the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"I felt like it was a step down," Schaeffer said. "But actually, I was favorably impressed with the students here."