In the 16 months since Blair Sheppard became dean of the Fuqua school of business at Duke University, he has been uncharacteristically quiet. Perhaps it is not surprising, then, that when he reveals his plans for the North Carolina business school today he will pull out all the stops.

Sandwiched between videos of business luminaries such as John Mack, chief executive of Morgan Stanley, Richard Wagner, chairman of General Motors, and a host of multi-cultural entertainment - from a Beatles tribute band to a group of Cossack dancers and a Chinese acrobat troupe - he will announce a $500m (£280m) plan to take Duke global.