Duke is known for a lot of things — basketball, Gothic architecture and, to some, a robust pre-professional culture. Over her nearly 25 years at the University, Martha Reeves, professor of the practice of sociology, has dedicated herself to broadening Duke’s pre-business opportunities for female students.
Before Reeves arrived at the University in 2001, she recalled working in a corporate world where it was more difficult for women to achieve top-level positions. When she came to Duke, she set out to change these dynamics and, in 2007, helped create Duke Association for Business Oriented Women (BOW), a student club for female-identifying students that provides them the space to break into business.
Nearly 25 years later, Reeves will be retiring at the end of the 2024-25 academic year from her posts as director of markets and management studies, professor of the practice of sociology and faculty adviser for BOW, leaving a lasting legacy on Duke’s aspiring businesswomen.
Since arriving at the University as a visiting professor in the sociology department, Reeves has become “a really powerful female figure on campus,” said BOW Co-president Maya Todd, a senior.
As director of Duke’s Markets and Management Studies program since 2017, Reeves has focused on making real-world experience a cornerstone of the program. She said she prioritized bringing in “real talent from outside of Duke — people who have worked in business for many years … [who] contributed their expertise from their business careers.”
But BOW is perhaps Reeves’ most well-known contribution to Duke’s community. The organization has “exploded” beyond Reeves’ expectations to become a network of hundreds of female-identifying undergraduates. The club hosts events for their members throughout the school year, including student-led forums, skill-building workshops, networking events and various guest speakers.
The journey began while Reeves was teaching a course titled “Women in Business,” when a student suggested that she start a business program for women at Duke.
The two worked together closely to revise and present a strategy proposal, laying the foundation for the program, which they established in 2007 as BOW.
Throughout this process, Reeves drew on her extensive business experience in management positions at American Express in the United States and England.
Reeves noted that some women have a difficult time “tooting their own horn,” a barrier she had to overcome to become an advocate for herself in the business space. She hoped to bring these skills to the women she taught at Duke.
BOW Co-president Emily McReynolds, a senior, spoke to Reeves’ support as a “mentor” and “friend,” emphasizing Reeves’ work in building the organization’s “strong networking community” and the trust that she placed in students and their ideas.
“The simple fact that she helped co-found this just with one student, because they felt that this was a lacking resource for Duke women … is really inspiring,” McReynolds said.
But Reeves' advocacy for female representation in the business world transcends Duke. She has authored two books: “Women in Business” and “Suppressed, Forced Out and Fired: How Successful Women Lose their Jobs,” which examines gender discrimination in the workplace. Additionally, she has published several articles on brand partnerships, female executives and virtual teams.
Beyond BOW, in 2003, Reeves and her husband, Alex Rosenberg, R. Taylor Cole distinguished professor of philosophy, co-founded the Duke in Geneva Study Abroad program, which brings undergraduate students to Geneva to study international business and political philosophy. Beyond the classroom, students make connections with professors and visit organizations such as the World Trade Organization, the Red Cross and the World Health Organization.
“I saw [Reeves] more as a friend than as a professor that I couldn’t talk to,” said sophomore Rylee Lent, a Duke in Geneva alum. “I always knew that I could ask her for advice after class and talk to her at any time.”
Lent also emphasized her appreciation for Reeves, not just for her professional and academic expertise but also for the real-life experiences and advice she shared with the students.
Reeves formed genuine connections with her students beyond the classroom, whether through traveling, hiking or engaging in conversations with students, shared junior Braxton LaNois, another Duke in Geneva alum.
Having worked at two other universities earlier in her career, she found Duke unique in its opportunity to quickly transform ideas into student programs and said that she "just wanted to be at Duke.”
Whether it was starting BOW or Duke in Geneva, Reeves highlighted that she could turn her visions and plans into practice through Duke’s adaptive, change-driven community.
In retirement, Reeves plans to remain active in her local community by volunteering at an equine therapy ranch that uses horses to provide therapy to people with physical, mental and social challenges to help them live more fulfilling lives.
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Reeves has also secured a contract for a new book exploring the challenges people face with retirement and is currently in the research phase.
As she now prepares to leave Duke, Reeves reflected on the legacy she hopes to leave.
“I think it’s in the small things you do on a day-to-day basis that make … students’ lives better,” she said.
Claire Chen is a Trinity first-year and a staff reporter for the news department.