Arne Duncan

Arne Duncan was named U.S. Secretary of Education by President Barack Obama and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Jan. 20, 2009. Duncan served in this position until December 2015. Prior to his appointment, Duncan served as the CEO of the Chicago Public Schools from June 2001 through December 2008, becoming the longest-serving big-city education superintendent in the country.

Before joining the Chicago Public Schools, Duncan ran the Ariel Education Initiative (1992–1998), a nonprofit focused on advancing educational opportunities in economically disadvantaged areas. He has served on the boards of the Ariel Education Initiative, Chicago Cares, the Children’s Center, the Golden Apple Foundation, the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence, Jobs for America’s Graduates, Junior Achievement, the Dean’s Advisory Board of the Kellogg School of Management, the National Association of Basketball Coaches Foundation, Renaissance Schools Fund, Scholarship Chicago and the South Side YMCA. He has also served on the Board of Overseers for Harvard College, the Visiting Committees for Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education and the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration.

From 1987 to 1991, Duncan played professional basketball in Australia, where he worked with children who were wards of the state. Duncan graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1987. He is married to Karen Duncan and has two children, Clare and Ryan.