That admonition, later repeated by and often credited to Horace Greeley of the New York Tribune, might reflect the ambitions of Duke University as it looks west -- very far west, to the emerging industrial/commercial powerhouse of China.
As that country has morphed from an anachronistic society to one bent on full membership in the world's economy, it has hungered for a more modern and sophisticated higher education system.
Duke has joined the ranks of U. S. universities answering that call.
Earlier this month, the Duke Board of Trustees heard a report on plans to create a Fuqua School of Business campus in the Chinese city of Kunshan. Haven't heard of Kunshan? Its population of about 640,000 is rapidly industrializing; it reflects the rapid urbanization of China.
That economic boom creates opportunity, and Duke is ready to take advantage of it.
"China is by many accounts the most dynamic economy in the world today," Mike Schoenfeld, Duke's vice president for public affairs, told The Herald-Sun's Neil Offen. "It's a nation that will have a tremendous impact on what happens in the world, and as a global educational institution, Duke wants to be part of the transformation of that society."
That's in line with Duke's mantra of outrageious ambitions. Duke Medicine already has planted a major flag in Asia with a partnership to develop a medical school at the National University of Singapore.
The business school campus is expected to include an academic building, faculty housing, conference center, dorms and a research incubator. It should be ready to open in 2011.
It is worth noting that the expansion into China is occurring even as Duke, like most universities, is coping with an economic downturn eroding its finances. But Duke more than many top-tier private universities has been able to carefully manage its budget-driven downsizing -- and has been able to focus on investments in the future such as the China expansion.
Duke officials envision the Kunshan venture as a precursor to other partnerships and developments in China. The relationships, of course, aside from extending the Durham university's brand to a country that in a generation has emerged as a global economic powerhouse, will provide more opportunities for Duke students and faculty to study and work in that country.
All of that can only benefit this city and this region, and we applaud and wish the best for the efforts.
