{{Short description|American politician (born 1934)}} {{about|the politician|the baseball player|Vern Duncan}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Verne Duncan | image = Verne Duncan.jpg | caption = | birth_name = Verne Allen Duncan | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1934|4|6}} | birth_place = McMinnville, Oregon U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | state_senate = Oregon | district = 20th | term_start = 1997 | term_end = 2003 | predecessor = Bill Kennemer | successor = Kurt Schrader | constituency = | office2 = Oregon Superintendent of Public Instruction | term_start2 = 1975 | term_end2 = 1989 | governor2 = Robert W. Straub<br>Victor Atiyeh<br>Neil Goldschmidt | predecessor2 = Jesse Fassold | successor2 = John Erickson | constituency2 = | office3 = Member of the Idaho House of Representatives from Butte County | term_start3 = 1962 | term_end3 = 1965 | predecessor3 = | successor3 = | constituency3 = | party = Republican. Independent since 2022 | occupation = Educator, Politician | majority = | relations = | spouse = Donna Nichols Duncan, (1937-2018) | education = Idaho State university (BA)<br>University of Idaho (MEd)<br>University of Oregon (PhD)<br>University of Portland (MBA) | children = Annette Kirk, Christine Didway | website = | footnotes = }}
'''Verne Allen Duncan''' (born April 6, 1934) is an American politician from the state of Oregon. As an educator and moderate Republican, he has become outspoken in protest of policies of his own party he views as extreme.<ref name="Oregonian November 1, 2004">{{cite news | last = Parker | first = Andy | title = Politics was a draw early in their lives | work = The Oregonian | page = B1 | publisher = Portland, Oregon: Oregonian Publishing | date = November 1, 2004}}</ref>
A former classroom teacher, principal, district superintendent and professor, Duncan has served in the legislatures of two states, Idaho and Oregon, held the office of Oregon Superintendent of Public Instruction, and served as a university dean.
==Early life== Born and raised in McMinnville, Duncan is a member of a pioneer Oregon family.<ref name="OE">{{Oregon Encyclopedia|duncan_verne|Verne Allen Duncan (1934-)|author=Hardt, Ulrich H.}}</ref> His grandfather, S.S. Duncan, had been a teacher and for many years was superintendent of schools for Yamhill County.<ref name="OE"/> His uncle was Leland Duncan, long-time district attorney of Harney County, Oregon.<ref name=bell>{{cite web | last = Bell | first = George | title = OSCF Board of Directors… Who's Who? | work = Oregon State Capitol Foundation Newsletter | publisher = Salem, Oregon: Oregon State Capitol Foundation | date = November 9, 2001 | url = http://www.leg.state.or.us/capinfo/foundation/foundation_newsltr_1.pdf | access-date = September 1, 2011 }}</ref>
As a schoolboy, Duncan had occasion to visit the state Department of Education on a class trip. When he needed a workspace on which to take down some notes, then-superintendent Rex Putnam rose from his desk and offered it to the young Duncan. Neither knew the boy would grow up to occupy that desk for fifteen years as superintendent himself.<ref name=bell/>
After completing a public school education, including graduation from McMinnville High School, he attended Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon. Duncan served in the United States Army, remaining active in the reserves, ultimately attaining the rank of colonel. Duncan graduated from Idaho State College, earning a B.A. in 1960, and began a long career in education. He would ultimately earn several graduate degrees, including an M.Ed. in Education Administration from the University of Idaho, a PhD in Public School Administration from the University of Oregon and an M.B.A. in Labor Management from the University of Portland.<ref name=odebio>{{cite web |url=http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?id=632 |title=Superintendent Tenures |publisher=Oregon Department of Education |access-date=September 1, 2011 |archive-date=April 26, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100426115318/http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?id=632 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==Career in education and politics== Duncan began his teaching career in the Butte County Public Schools in Arco, Idaho, in 1954. He subsequently became a principal and later the superintendent of schools. Before serving as superintendent, he was elected to the state legislature, serving from 1962 to 1965. He then completed his Ph.D. at the University of Oregon and after a short interim on the faculty at the University became the Superintendent of Schools of the Clackamas County Intermediate Education District. In 1974, he was elected State Superintendent of Schools. After his four-term tenure as Oregon's Superintendent of Public Instruction, Duncan returned to teaching in 1990, serving as dean of the University of Portland’s School of Education until 1996, when he took emeritus professor status.<ref name=odebio/> He was appointed the following year by Governor Kitzhaber to fill a vacancy in the Oregon State Senate, and was elected to serve a full four-year term in 1998 after defeating Monroe Sweetland in the November election.<ref name=bell/><ref name=odebio/>
As a politician, Duncan took positions which placed him in the progressive or moderate wing of the Oregon Republican Party, as were many of his immediate predecessors and contemporaries, including the likes of Tom McCall, Clay Myers, Bob Packwood and Mark Hatfield. He supported the creation of Metro, voted for Governor Kitzhaber's transportation package, and was on record as pro-choice and in favor of nondiscrimination laws for gays, prompting ''Willamette Week'' to characterize him as "a moderate's moderate," in its 1998 editorial endorsement.<ref name="WW 1998 Primary Endorsements"> {{cite web | title = WW's Political Picks: Endorsements for the May 1998 Election | work = Willamette Week (Online) | publisher = Portland, Oregon: City of Roses Newspaper Company | date = May 6, 1998 | url = http://www.willametteweek.com/html/legislative050698.html | access-date = 2006-12-20 }}</ref>
In a 2000 interview with ''The Oregonian'', Duncan admitted to having voted personally for both Republican and Democratic presidential candidates, refusing to give particulars, but indicating that he was an enthusiastic supporter of George H. W. Bush but not his son. He also told the reporter that the Republicans must become more inclusive and less extreme. "Sometimes it doesn't hurt to lose," he said. "It keeps you humble."<ref name="Oregonian November 1, 2004"/>
==Legacy== In 2008, the North Clackamas School District named a new elementary school in Duncan's honor. Duncan lives in Oak Grove, within the District, and had served as district superintendent.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://thetribonline.com/news/story.php?story_id=120776149985209800 |title=District hears potential school names |last=Graham |first=Matthew |newspaper=Clackamas Review |date=April 8, 2008 |access-date=April 27, 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://thetribonline.com/news/story.php?story_id=120896726960210400 |title=School will be named for Duncan, not Westfall |last=Graham |first=Matthew |newspaper=Clackamas Review |date=April 23, 2008 |access-date=April 27, 2013 }}</ref>
==References== ;Specific {{reflist|30em}}
;General * "Verne Duncan." ''Carroll's State Directory.'' Carroll Publishing, 2006. Reproduced ''Biography Resource Center.'' Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2006. [http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC] (Subscription required). Retrieved on 2006-12-20.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, Verne}} Category:1934 births Category:Living people Category:People from McMinnville, Oregon Category:Idaho State University alumni Category:Republican Party Oregon state senators Category:21st-century members of the Oregon Legislative Assembly Category:Oregon superintendents of public instruction Category:Republican Party members of the Idaho House of Representatives Category:University of Idaho alumni Category:University of Oregon alumni Category:University of Portland alumni Category:People from Milwaukie, Oregon Category:Educators from Oregon Category:People from Oak Grove, Oregon Category:People from Butte County, Idaho