Five Lives, Five Callings, One Shared Commitment to Duke

Assistant Curator Danielle Lynch has spent the past 10 years working at the Duke Lemur Center. Aside from caring for lemurs, she helps manage a team of technicians who provide daily care, supports conservation projects and travels to Madagascar to work with lemurs at parks within their native range. 

All of which is an unexpected career path for Lynch because she never expected to work with lemurs. Lynch wanted to work with larger animals, but after completing an internship at the Duke Lemur Center, she changed course.

"I came here just as an intern, hoping to learn more and loved it," she said. “I knew this was where I wanted to be.”

Lynch has made the Duke Lemur Center such a home that one resident holds a special place in heart: Poe, a 39-year-old Aye-Aye named after poet Edgar Allan Poe.

"He definitely holds a special place in my heart," Lynch said.

Over the years, Lynch has built enough trust with Poe that he allows her to prepare him for ultrasounds, check his teeth and monitor his health. The two have such a strong bond built on patience and trust that Lynch inked a tattoo of Poe on her right leg.

Through trips to Madagascar, where she helps parks protect endangered lemurs, Lynch has realized that the work happening at the Duke Lemur Center reaches far beyond Durham.

"I was given the opportunity to travel to Madagascar for the first time and understand all the work we're doing is a part of a greater network," she said.

For Chris Magher, working in IT is more than fixing computers. As an IT analyst at Duke, he helps people solve problems and builds relationships along the way. 

"I'm a talkative guy,” he said. “You get to talk to people all day long."

Whether it’s an application issue or someone is having email problems, Magher enjoys finding a solution.

"I do like figuring stuff out," Magher said. "It just fits."

Although he now works in technology, Magher didn't always envision himself on this career path. He once dreamed of working in the video game industry and studied art before family responsibilities brought him back home. Today, art remains one of his greatest passions in his free time, where he combines it with his technology background to create digital art. 

Magher considered making art his career, but after seeing professional comic book artists during an internship, he said he felt "so far behind." Over time, he realized comparing himself to others only slowed his growth. He’s learned from that experience.

"You have to give yourself grace," Magher said. "Today is who you are, tomorrow is who you're going to be."

After more than 12 years at Duke, Magher says the people are what keep him in his role. He appreciates the welcoming environment and the feeling that everyone contributes to something bigger.

"I feel like I am one more piece of a much larger puzzle," he said. "I feel very much like a community here at Duke."

Fatima Nachet never imagined working anywhere but postpartum nursing.

Her passion for postpartum nursing started 30 years ago when she arrived in the U.S. from Algeria, pregnant with her daughter. As a new mom in a new country, she was scared and didn't know the language. Everything changed when one nurse made her feel cared for.

"She gave me all her attention and devotion and made me successful being a mom," Nachet said.

That experience stayed with her, inspiring her to become a postpartum nurse.

Nachet has been a Clinical Nurse on Duke University Hospital's Pediatric Patient Care Unit for nearly 10 years. She said Duke immediately felt like home because of its value of inclusion.

"It truly is a melting pot; you get to know a lot of variety,” Nachet said.

She appreciates working alongside people from diverse backgrounds and caring for patients with varied experiences. She loves working at a hospital that provides care many others cannot.

For Nachet, nursing goes beyond medical care. She strives to build trust with every mother she meets.

"I just relate to them so much,” Nachet said.

She wants new moms to ask questions, understand their experience is unique and feel confident before leaving the hospital.

Though she loves "welcoming new life,” she has also cared for families experiencing loss, moments that she says never leave her.

During the hardest days, she reminds mothers to give themselves grace, ask for help when needed, and know that they are stronger than they think.

After Javier Bravo and his family left Puerto Rico in search of economic stability, he grew up in an impoverished Bronx community where law enforcement was seen more as a source of unease than protection.

"There was this stereotype about the police always coming to get you,” said Bravo, Duke University Police Department Security Director for Duke’s Health System. “If you do something wrong, they're going to get you."

Now, Bravo, a Duke staff member since 2019, draws on his childhood experience to help shape the Health System Security Department, building trust and serving as a true partner in safety for the Duke community.

"People. That's my why," he said. "Everything we do touches someone in a positive way."

His team works with patients, visitors, and staff during uneasy moments. Bravo said that people often come to the hospital "because they're scared," worried about a loved one or an uncertain diagnosis. He believes every positive interaction, such as heart-to-heart conversations with hospital patients and visitors, make a difference in someone’s life.

In his role, Bravo helps create security plans for patients with disruptive behaviors and works with hospital staff so they can focus on providing care.

A misconception about security, Bravo said, is that his team is only there to enforce rules. Instead, he sees his team as partners in patient care. He believes that security is about serving others and helping people through tough moments.

“To know that I'm tied into the bigger picture and how we contribute, it’s amazing,” Bravo said. 

Deondra Rose doesn’t see herself as the kind of professor who only gives lectures.

She constantly learns, too.

“Just as much as I am an instructor and a teacher, I'm a learner and a student as well,” said Rose, a Professor in Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy. “To my mind, my students and I are a team, and we're engaging in the learning experience together.”

Since arriving at Duke in 2014, Rose has helped students understand important topics like power, equality, opportunity and public policy. Being surrounded by people dedicated to solving problems and making a difference leaves her excited every day.

Rose, author of “The Power of Black Excellence: HBCUs and the Fight for American Democracy,” believes universities are places where people ask difficult questions, generate ideas and learn from each other. She loves seeing students discover something new and dream big.

That’s something Rose’s mother encouraged her to do after Rose was born prematurely at 2 pounds. Doctors warned her mother, who couldn’t take Rose home for months, that she would likely face challenges and to temper her expectations. Neither accepted those limitations. Those experiences inspire Rose as she mentors students.

Rose hopes to be remembered for inspiring others to think differently, believe in themselves and become their best selves.

“I’d love if someone said, ‘Professor Rose helped me to do things that I didn't think I

could do,’” said Rose, “and perhaps equally, ‘Professor Rose helped me to think about

things in ways that I hadn't thought about them.’”