William Hutchinson, B.A. 2001

Senior Legal Counsel, Borealis AG – Vienna Austria

2001 Major: History and African & African American Studies

How has being a History graduate from Duke helped shape you personally and/or professionally?

"Completely. I am in debt for such a lovely 4 years of learning and enjoying to learn. What I took from my degree besides the general skills you get from a liberal arts education is to be able to properly frame today’s events within our history. Things are never that good or bad today because they were always better and worse before."

What advice would you give students in Duke's History programs? 

"Focus on learning, sharpening your analytical skills and decide if you want to have a meaningful life through your career or a career that supports a meaningful life. These two things are very different and one is not better than the other."

William Hutchinson