Former U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan Joins Brookings

The Brookings Institution is proud to welcome Arne Duncan, former U.S. secretary of education, as a nonresident senior fellow in the Governance Studies program’s Brown Center on Education Policy.  Brookings announced today that Secretary Duncan will write original analyses and opinion pieces here on the Chalkboard, and will participate in public events on relevant issues. In his first formal activity as a Brookings affiliate, Secretary Duncan will serve as a discussant at the A. Alfred Taubman Forum on charter schools on Tuesday, April 26.

Duncan comes to Brookings just months after stepping down from his post as the head of the U.S. Department of Education. In this role, he helped steer President Obama’s investments in education—including approximately $100 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act—to fund new teaching jobs, increases in Pell grants, reform efforts including Race to the Top, and interventions in low-performing schools. In addition to his role at Brookings, Duncan also serves as managing partner of the Emerson Collective, an organization that champions innovative and entrepreneurial solutions to the problems facing American schools.

“The Brown Center is proud to welcome Arne Duncan, who has demonstrated passionate leadership on education and youth development issues throughout his life and career,” said Darrell West, Vice President of Governance Studies at Brookings, in today’s news release.  “The research and activities of the Brown Center will benefit greatly from his decades of experience shaping and implementing education policy, not just at the federal but at the state and local levels as well. His perspective will help the Brown Center generate fresh ideas and new approaches to the challenges facing American schools and communities.

We look forward to welcoming Secretary Duncan and hearing more from him in the weeks and months to come. The full press release is available for more details on Secretary Duncan’s new role at Brookings.