DURHAM, N.C. — The University of Pennsylvania’s chief academic officer will take the helm of Duke University next year.
Vincent Price’s selection as Duke’s 10th president was announced Friday morning following a vote by the board of trustees. Word of the choice came shortly before the school announced former Duke president H. Keith H. Brodie had died Friday at age 77.
Price, a 59-year-old award-winning political science and communications professor, will succeed Richard Brodhead on July 1.
Brodhead announced in April his plans to step down after 13 years as president.
David Rubenstein, chair of the board of trustees, called Price the ideal person to lead Duke into the future.
He “has demonstrated throughout his distinguished academic career the type of strong, effective and enlightened leadership which will ensure that Duke has a worthy successor to Dick Brodhead,” Rubenstein said.
As provost since 2009, Price oversees Penn’s 12 academic colleges, the arts and student affairs.
According to a Duke release, Price led Penn’s role as one of the first partners in Coursera, which offers online courses from major universities, and was a founding chairman of Coursera’s board. He also served on the board of The Wistar Institute, a nonprofit that conducts biomedical research, and with the University of Pennsylvania Health System’s executive planning group.
His 1992 book, “Public Opinion,” is published in several languages, and he is former editor-in-chief of “Public Opinion Quarterly.”
Price joined Penn’s faculty in 1998. He previously was chairman of communication studies at the University of Michigan. He has a bachelor’s degree in English from Santa Clara University, and master’s and doctorate degrees in communication from Stanford University.
Price will be publicly introduced on Duke’s campus later Friday with his wife, Annette. They have two children, ages 27 and 25.
Brodie, a professor emeritus of psychiatry, served as Duke’s seventh president, succeeding Terry Sanford. During Brodie’s tenure, which was from 1985 until 1993, applications to Duke’s undergraduate and graduate schools increased. The university also launched programs to recruit and retain minority faculty and added new academic initiatives, including a School of the Environment, according to a statement from the school.
The school said details about a memorial service for Brodie will come later.
