About Us

Staff

Robert F. Duvall
President & Chief Executive Officer
Council for Economic Education

Dr. Robert Fenton Duvall came to the Council for Economic Education (The Council), headquartered in New York City, as President and Chief Executive Officer in the spring of 1995. Prior to joining The Council, he was President of Pacific University in Oregon.

The Council is the nation’s premier proponent of economic and financial literacy, and works as an independent, non-profit and non-partisan organization through a unique nationwide network of affiliated state Councils and university-based Centers focused on teacher training and curriculum development. Through The Council, Duvall leads the effort to improve the effective teaching of basic and applied principles of economics and personal financial decision-making skills in the nation’s schools, K-12, and also internationally, with the goal of preparing every young person for a successful life in the “real” world. 

Under Duvall’s direction and leadership, The Council has developed an award-winning new “Focus” publications series; created innovative initiatives to extend reach and deepen impact via the Internet; written and published Voluntary National Content Standards in Economics; and convened and conducted the first-ever National Summits on Economic and Financial Literacy, working with the Federal Reserve and other partners and associations, in 2002 and in 2005. 

Revenues for The Council’s pace-setting programs in economic and financial literacy under Duvall's direction have increased 300% from $4 million in 1995 to over $12 million in 2005.

Duvall has become a national, and international, spokesman for the cause of improving economic and financial education, making it a core component of the pre-college curriculum. He has addressed numerous conferences of education and business leaders, testified for Senate and House Committees, and been interviewed on ABC, CNBC, CBS Market Watch, National Public Television and Radio, and numerous talk shows on both television and radio.

Duvall serves on the Boards of The Council, The Tiffany Consort, the Board of Advisors of Camilli Economics, and the Financial Literacy Commission of the National Association of State Boards of Education.

During his twelve-year tenure as President of Pacific University, enrollment was increased by 50 percent, the endowment was increased four-fold, and five new buildings were constructed for core academic programs.

Duvall has his M.A. and Ph.D. from The Claremont Graduate University, and has published and lectured nationally on issues in education. He has served on the faculty and administration of Pitzer College, Claremont, California; Rollins College, Florida; and the University of Pennsylvania; and was a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University, England, in 1992.

He is also a proud father, frustrated tennis player, passionate opera fan, and published poet.