Arne Duncan

Arne Duncan

American politician, psychologist, 9th US Secretary of Education.
Date of Birth: 06.11.1964
Country: USA

Biography of Arne Duncan

Arne Duncan is an American politician and psychologist who served as the 9th Secretary of Education in the United States. Born and raised in Hyde Park, a suburb of Chicago, Duncan was exposed to education from a young age as both of his parents worked in the education industry. Rather than becoming a regular teacher, Duncan was drawn to the administrative side of education. Throughout his career, he climbed the ladder of success and eventually became the Secretary of Education.

Arne Duncan

Duncan's father, Starkey Davis Duncan Jr., was a psychology professor, and his mother managed a children's center that specialized in preparing African American children from the neighboring suburb of Kenwood for school. After graduating from high school, Duncan attended Harvard University, where he earned a Bachelor's degree in Sociology with honors in 1987. During his time at Harvard, Duncan took a year off to work on his senior thesis titled "Values, Aspirations, and Opportunities of Urban Poor." He spent this year in Kenwood conducting research.

Arne Duncan

In 1992, Duncan's old friend, banker and investor John W. Rogers Jr., offered him a position as the director of the "Ariel Education Initiative" project, which aimed to prepare children from the most disadvantaged schools in Chicago. Although the project was shut down in 1996, Rogers and Duncan managed to relaunch it in a different format. In 1999, Duncan became the deputy chief of staff for Chicago Public Schools under CEO Paul Vallas. On June 26, 2001, Mayor Richard M. Daley appointed Duncan as the CEO of Chicago Public Schools.

Arne Duncan

Opinions on Duncan's tenure as CEO of Chicago Public Schools vary. Some consider his term a great success, citing increased overall academic achievement. Others believe that the improvements attributed to Duncan were exaggerated and that his education reform negatively impacted the quality of education. However, it was during this time that President Barack Obama nominated Duncan to be the Secretary of Education. Duncan's nomination was later approved by the Senate on January 20, 2009.

Arne Duncan

As Secretary of Education, Duncan focused on supporting the expansion of charter schools and implementing a system to evaluate the quality of teachers, such as analyzing the performance of students taught by those teachers through standardized testing. According to Duncan, approximately 82% of public schools did not meet the existing educational standards and requirements by March 2011.

Duncan met his future wife, Karen Luann Duncan, a native of Tasmania, Australia, during a trip to Australia. They currently reside in Arlington, Virginia, where their children, Claire and Ryan, attend local schools. Duncan was actively involved in basketball during his time at Harvard, playing as a captain on the team and being part of the first team of the "Academic All-American" squad. He continued to play basketball professionally from 1987 to 1991, mostly in Australia, including playing for the Melbourne-based Australian NBL team, Eastside Spectres. Duncan has continued to participate in the "NBA All-Star Weekend Celebrity" games. On May 11, 2014, he joined the American team for the 3x3 basketball championship. Alongside Jitim Young, Thomas Darrow, and Craig Moore, Duncan represented the United States at the FIBA championship in Moscow from June 5th to 8th.

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