In his indenture of trust that established our University, James B. Duke requested that the institution secure for its officers, trustees and faculty people, “of such outstanding character, ability and vision as will insure its attaining and maintaining a place of real leadership in the educational world.” A world in which—ironically at the very moment when academic breakthroughs in so many fields stand to improve our lives in dramatic ways—public support of higher education and academic research has been trending downward, and our primary sources of external funding appear to be diminishing rapidly before our very eyes.