Duke University Facts and Figures provides a comprehensive overview of Research, Education, Patient Care, Community Partnerships and Global Outreach. The youngest of the nation’s leading medical schools, Duke University School of Medicine is one of the nation’s premier schools for medical education, clinical care and biomedical research. Planning for the school began in 1925, when businessman James Buchanan Duke, benefactor of Duke University and The Duke Endowment, bequeathed $4 million to establish the Duke School of Medicine, the Duke School of Nursing and Duke Hospital. Less than five years after the school opened in 1930, the Association of American Medical Colleges ranked Duke in the top quarter of medical schools in the country. Now, more than 80 years later, the Duke University School of Medicine is still ranked among the leading medical schools in the nation. The School of Medicine employs more than 2,200 regular rank faculty physicians and researchers. The School of Medicine, Duke University Health System, School of Nursing, and the PDC comprise Duke Health.