About
What we're known for
The people around you should change the way you think
At Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, we believe people and ideas become better through rigorous engagement across difference.
That belief shapes all elements of our mission. Scholars advance knowledge by testing ideas against evidence and one another. Students develop judgment by learning with people whose experiences and perspectives challenge their own. In both, difference becomes valuable when people engage with rigor, curiosity, and respect.
Fuqua deliberately creates the conditions to make that engagement productive. Our culture combines honest challenge with trust: people question assumptions, change their minds when the evidence demands it, and remain invested in making one another better.
Our model matters even more as knowledge and analysis become increasingly accessible. The enduring advantage is knowing what matters, recognizing what may be missing, deciding well when intelligent people disagree, and bringing others together to act.
We hold the institution itself to the same standard. Throughout our history, Fuqua has continually reconsidered and redesigned how we teach, learn, research, and operate as business and society evolve.
What we do
Fuqua brings together scholars and students from around the world to advance knowledge and develop leaders at every stage of a career.
Our faculty advance the frontiers of what we know about organizations, markets, decision-making, and leadership. Across our graduate programs, students learn from that scholarship, from peers with different experiences and perspectives, and from the broader intellectual resources of Duke University.
Team Fuqua is the design principle for that learning. It is a culture in which people challenge and support one another, hold one another to high standards, and share responsibility for making the whole better. Students develop judgment by learning to question assumptions, evaluate evidence, navigate disagreement, and turn ideas into action.
Our work extends across Duke and into organizations and industries around the world, creating opportunities to bring different disciplines and perspectives to consequential problems in business and society, extended by a global network of 30,000+ Fuqua alumni.
We measure our success by the knowledge we advance and by the people our graduates help develop, the organizations they shape, and the communities they serve. Last updated: August 2026
What’s in a name?
J.B. Fuqua had a problem. A lot of ambition. Not a lot of money. College just wasn’t going to happen. So this Virginia farm boy asked several universities to mail him books instead. Only Duke responded. Call it distance learning, Depression-style, but those finance and banking books laid the foundation for a Fortune 500 company and J.B. Fuqua’s success.
Eleven years after Duke University chartered the Graduate School of Business in 1969, it was named The Fuqua School of Business with a gift from J.B. Fuqua in gratitude for that early relationship.
J.B. Fuqua believed any obstacle could be overcome with education and hard work, and this sense of grit remains part of our culture still. His support helped us evolve into one of the world’s best business schools. Our story shows how gifts—even those as small as a book—can make a difference.
