Every university shapes the character of its students. Often, this happens implicitly and unintentionally. At Duke, we want to make this explicit. We want to bring Character Forward. The goal is that our graduates receive a rigorous engineering education while also becoming better people.
Hear from recent Duke appointee Retired Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. and other Duke faculty and staff on what it takes to develop empathetic and character-forward leaders.
Aligned with Duke Engineering’s Character Forward initiative, Professor Siobhan Oca’s Ethics in Robotics and Automation course (ME 490) challenges students to see beyond technical skills and practice the virtues that shape responsible engineers.
Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff will engage with students and faculty through Duke Engineering’s Character Forward program.
Faculty Present on Ethics in Engineering
Faculty members Cameron Kim, Siobhan Oca, and Stacy Tantum shared their insights at the 2025 IEEE Ethics Conference at Northwestern University, presenting strategies to empower engineering undergraduates to help shape an ethical future
Character & the Microbiome
The 2025 Precision Microbiome Engineering (PreMiEr) Social and Ethical Implications (SEI) virtual workshop included a discussion of how character factors into research ethics, expanding the traditionally circumscribed view of ethics
Faculty member awarded Integrating Virtue Together Fellowship
Megan Madonna, an Assistant Research Professor in Biomedical Engineering, earns a fellowship to integrate humility, justice, and wisdom into BME 462L Design for the Developing World
Pluralism As a Critical Engineering Tool
Rich Eva recently joined a panel for Duke’s Initiative on Pluralism, Free Inquiry, and Belonging to show how engineering lessons in pluralism can help anybody have constructive dialogue.
We believe in delivering our best to the clients and communities we serve. When student projects are left unfinished, we don’t let that potential go to waste.
Steve McClelland, executive director of the Christensen Family Center for Innovation at Duke, is working on Project Posterity, a system that will allow unfinished projects to be “recycled,” passed along to other Duke colleagues.
Rich earned his Ph.D. in philosophy from Baylor University and his A.B. from Princeton. He specializes in ethics, pedagogy and political philosophy. His experience as a D1 athlete at Princeton sparked his interest in leadership and character development. After Princeton, he worked in New York City as an assistant vice president at Barclays Bank helping organize pro bono service initiatives. Rich returned to academia to investigate questions in applied ethics.
General Brown Jr. served as the 21st Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff—the nation’s highest-ranking military officer and senior military advisor to the President. He retired from the U.S. Air Force after nearly 40 years of service, including as the first African American to lead a military service. He holds a B.S. in civil engineering from Texas Tech University and a master’s in aeronautical science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Associate Chair for Education, R. Eugene and Susie E. Goodson Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Our Partners
The Character Forward Initiative is a partnership of the Pratt School of Engineering and The Purpose Project at Duke.
The Purpose Project, generously funded by the Duke Endowment, is a collaboration of the Kenan Institute for Ethics, Duke Divinity School and the Office of the Provost.
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