Wendy Kuran is Associate Vice President for Development and Alumni Engagement for Duke Kunshan University (DKU) and Duke in China. She originated the DKU role before the joint-venture independent university opened in 2014, building an integrated team in China and the US accountable for attracting philanthropic and other types of support. Donors and advisors include people and companies, primarily in China, who are drawn to an innovative start-up where students and faculty from more than 50 countries pursue a global research agenda and a unique liberal-arts education mission. While establishing the DKU development, alumni relations, and corporate relations functions, Wendy has led the creation of a high-profile international advisory board and a legal foundation in China. Wendy works to engage Duke alumni and parents in China. She also 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 and innovation, social entrepreneurship, leadership, international business, energy/environment, financial services, consulting, consumer goods and technology/entertainment/media.
Prior to her transition to academia, she pursued a 25-year career in the health care industry, holding senior-executive positions in hospital administration, health insurance design and management, consumer wellness, prescription drug management and new product development 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, including AFS-USA, where she is Vice Chair. She has lived abroad and traveled extensively on six continents.
