Duke awarded three alumni with the 2024 University Medals for Distinguished Meritorious Service, Duke’s highest honor, in recognition of their longstanding impacts on the University.
President Vincent Price presented the medals to Robert Califf, Trinity '73, School of Medicine '78 and House Staff '83, Fred Stanback, Trinity '50, and William Turner Jr., Pratt '70, Divinity School '74 and Graduate School '84, at the award ceremony over the Centennial Founders’ Day Weekend.
In a Sept. 9 Duke Today statement, Price shared how he was looking forward to recognizing their contributions and the “significant role” they each played in Duke’s “growth and success.”
Robert Califf
Califf was awarded the University Medal for his contributions to health research, policy and advising for Duke and across the country.
He spent over 30 years at the University as a researcher, administrator, practicing cardiologist and professor of medicine in cardiology at the School of Medicine. In 1996 he founded the Duke Clinical Research Institute, which is now the largest academic clinical research institution in the world.
Califf currently serves as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, a position he was initially nominated to by Former President Barack Obama. He held the position from 2016 to 2017, opting to return to Duke as a professor of medicine and vice chancellor for health data science. Califf was renominated to FDA commissioner by President Joe Biden in 2021.
Throughout his time as commissioner, he has led efforts to tackle issues related to the opioid epidemic, abortion and COVID-19.
Califf also worked as the head of medical strategy and senior advisor for Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc. in 2019 and helped develop Duke Forge, an interdisciplinary center launched in 2017 that works towards advancing health data science.
Fred Stanback
Stanback’s dedication to environmental concerns and philanthropy earned him the University Medal.
Upon graduating from Duke, Stanback joined the Stanback Company, his family’s headache powder company, eventually becoming chairman and treasurer before his retirement.
Stanback devoured much of his energy into philanthropic efforts, particularly in North Carolina. He has been a supporter and advisor in the Duke Cancer Center, Duke Marine Lab, Nicholas School of the Environment, environmental law and policy initiatives at Duke Law and Alzheimer's research at Duke Health.
In honor of their work, Stanback and his wife, Alice Stanback, Woman’s College ’53, received the 2008 North Carolina Award — the state’s highest civilian honor. In 2015 the Nicholas School Deanship was named after the Stanbacks.
In an effort to provide students with project-based learning experiences in energy, conservation, advocacy, policy, research and applied resource management, the Stanbacks created The Stanback Fellowship. The partnership between the Nicholas School and non-profit environmental organizations provides Duke students with $7,000 to support their project experience.
William Turner Jr.
One of the first two Black student-athletes on Duke’s football team, Turner Jr. was honored by Duke for his civil rights efforts, advocacy and work as an educator throughout his 50 years of service to the University.
As a student, Turner Jr. pioneered civil rights efforts on campus in the late 1960s after learning about Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. He participated alongside over 1,400 students in 1968 Silent Vigil, who camped in front of the Chapel and boycotted dining halls to protest for improved conditions for Duke’s Black community.
Later returning to Duke, Turner served as dean of Black affairs and dean of Black church affairs, and taught theology at the Divinity School as the James T. and Alice Mead Cleland professor of the practice of preaching until his retirement in 2018.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.
Halle Vazquez is a Trinity sophomore and an associate news editor for the news department.