Daniel L. Duke

After teaching high school social studies and serving as a secondary school administrator, Daniel L. Duke embarked on a career in higher education. For over three decades he has taught courses on educational leadership, organizational change, and school reform as well as conducted research on various aspects of public schools. After serving on the faculties of Lewis and Clark College and Stanford University, he came to the University of Virginia as chair of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies. Duke founded and directed the Thomas Jefferson Center for Educational Design and helped establish the Darden-Curry Partnership for Leaders in Education (PLE), a unique enterprise involving the Curry School of Education and the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration. He serves as research director for the PLE. A prolific writer, Duke has authored or co-authored 27 books and several hundred scholarly articles, monographs, chapters, and reports. His most recent books include The Challenges of Educational Change (2004), Education Empire: The Evolution of an Excellent Suburban School System (2005), Teachers’ Guide to School Turnarounds (2007), and The Little School System That Could: Transforming a City School District (2008). A highly regarded consultant, Duke has worked with over 150 school systems, state agencies, foundations, and governments across the United States and abroad. He has served as president of the University Council for Educational Administration and was chosen as Professor of the Year at the Curry School of Education.