Associate Vice President for Development: Duke Kunshan University and China
With her team in China and the US, Wendy Kuran is accountable for attracting philanthropic and other types of support from within and outside of China to build the brand and the ecosystem for Duke’s joint-venture independent research and liberal arts university that opened in fall 2014. Reporting jointly to Duke’s Provost and the VP for Development, and working closely with the Executive Vice Chancellor of DKU, Wendy has led the establishment and growth of the development, alumni relations, corporate relations and executive education functions at this start-up institution. These efforts have included the establishment a high-profile international advisory board and a legal foundation in China. Wendy speaks, teaches and writes about the development of philanthropy in China.
From 2007–2012, Wendy served as Associate Dean for Centers and Global Corporate Relations at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business, accountable for the school’s industry-facing strategies and initiatives. She created and managed centers in entrepreneurship, leadership, international business, energy/environment, financial services, consulting, consumer goods and technology/entertainment/media.
Prior to that, she held a series of senior executive positions at UnitedHealthcare, PacifiCare Health Systems and St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach, CA. Wendy earned her A.B. in English Magna cum laude from Princeton University and her MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Throughout her career, Wendy has been a board member and consultant for a broad array of nonprofit organizations. She has lived abroad and traveled extensively on six continents.