Big Tobacco, Cigarettes and the Foundation of Duke University

Abstract

Duke University was founded in 1930 primarily due to funds generated from James B Duke’s tobacco business. Duke achieved great financial wealth primarily due to the early application of machine rolled cigarettes, as opposed to hand rolled. This early adoption of technology allowed Duke Tobacco to out-produce other companies still selling hand rolled cigarettes. By making smoking more inexpensive and easier than pipe smoking, the cigarette formed the foundation for nicotine addiction in the 1900s, generating huge profits for the tobacco industry. At the time Duke University was founded, little was known about the connection between nicotine, cigarettes and respiratory diseases such as emphysema and lung cancer. Through James Duke’s philanthropy, the devastating harm from cigarettes has been mitigated in part through the founding of one of the world’s most prominent medical centers and research universities.