Arne Duncan

Arne Duncan has been the chief executive officer of Chicago Public Schools since June of 2001.Chicago Public Schools: Arne Duncan On December 15, 2008, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that a member of Barack Obama's transition team confirmed Duncan as Obama's nomination for education secretary. The senate confirmed Duncan's appointment only hours after the inauguration on January 20, 2009.FOX News: Senate Confirms Obama Cabinet Secretaries (January 20, 2009)

Duncan announced in February 2009 that, as education secretary, he favors longer school years for U.S. students. Duncan says that research shows that students in countries with longer school days and years perform at levels above students in the U.S. He also pushing for new benchmarks to use international standards to compare American students to students in other developed nations.CNN: Education chief favors longer... (February 27, 2009)

Arne Duncan studied sociology at Harvard University. During his time at Harvard, he was the co-captain of the men's basketball team and was named a first team Academic All-American player. After graduating, Duncan moved to Australia, where he was a professional basketball player for four years. He then returned to the U.S. and became the director of the Ariel Education Initiative, a non-profit initiative dedicated to improving educational opportunities for disadvantaged children. Duncan began working for Chicago Public Schools in 1998 and was named CEO three years later.Chicago Public Schools: Arne Duncan Ariel Investments: Ariel Education Initiative