
Distinguished Speakers Series
Distinguished Speakers Series
Bringing the world's leaders to Fuqua
Since 1984, the Dean's Office of Duke's Fuqua School of Business has hosted the Distinguished Speakers Series, bringing a variety of leaders and change-makers into an intimate conversation. These individuals provide significant domain expertise and educational enrichment that is a natural complement to the school's academic curriculum.
The series gives leaders a place to share their insights on important business issues and strategies, informing our community while also strengthening relationships between Fuqua and the world's leading organizations.
The Distinguished Speakers Series is supported by Dean Bill Boulding, and the series is open to the Duke University community.

2020-2021 Speakers
Date | Speaker |
June 16, 2020 | GEN(R) Martin E. Dempsey AM '84, 18th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff |
June 23, 2020 | Cara Sabin MBA '98, Chief Executive Officer, Sundial Brands |
August 6, 2020 | Dr. Kelvin Baggett MBA/HSM ’06, Managing Director, Posterity Capital Group; Senior Advisor, Pharos Capital Group; COVID-19 Health and Health Care Access Czar, City of Dallas |
October 13, 2020 | Kareem Cook AB ’94, MBA ’00, Founder and Managing Director at Towerview Capital Management, LLC, Chief Marketing Officer and Owner, Naturade |
October 22, 2020 | Tim Ryan, Senior Partner and Chairman, PwC US |
November 17, 2020 | David Taylor ‘80, Chairman of the Board, President & CEO, P&G |
December 1, 2020 | Sean McManus ’77, Chairman, CBS Sports |
December 7, 2020 | Rich Lesser, Chief Executive Officer, Boston Consulting Group |
December 13, 2020 | Eric Yuan, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Zoom |
January 12, 2021 | Susan Gordon '80, Former U.S. Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence |
February 18, 2021 | Ellen Kullman, President and CEO, Carbon Inc. |
February 23, 2021 | Jacqueline Novogratz, Founder and CEO, Acumen |
March 2, 2021 | Ajay Banga, Executive Chairman, Mastercard |
March 8, 2021 | Eric Yuan, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Zoom |
Past Speakers
2019-2020
- Janet Foutty, Chair of the Board, Deloitte - View YouTube video
- Chip Bergh, President and CEO, Levi Strauss & Co. - View YouTube video
- Bart Houlahan, Co-Founder, B Lab - View YouTube video
2018-2019
- David Taylor, Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer, P&G - View YouTube video
- Omar Ishrak, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Medtronic - View YouTube video
- Mary Barra, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, General Motors Company - View YouTube video
- Brian Moynihan, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Bank of America
- Jonathan Reckford, Chief Executive Officer, Habitat for Humanity International - View YouTube video
2017-2018
- Jud Linville, CEO, Citi Cards and Ajay Banga, President and CEO, Mastercard - View YouTube video
- Lisa Borders, President, WNBA - View YouTube video
- Kent Thiry, CEO, DaVita Inc. - View YouTube video
- Jeff Ubben, CEO, ValueAct
2016-2017
- Mary Barra, CEO, General Motors Corporation - View YouTube video
- General Martin Dempsey, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs - View YouTube video
- Bill McDermott, CEO, SAP SE - View YouTube video
- Doug McMillon, CEO, Walmart Stores, Inc. - View YouTube video
- John McNabb II., Former Chairman and CEO, Willbros Group - View YouTube video
- Oscar Munoz, CEO, United Airlines - View YouTube video
- David Rubenstein, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, The Carlyle Group - View YouTube video
- Tony Scott, former U.S. Chief Information Officer - View YouTube video
- Adam Silver, Commissioner, National Basketball Association
2015-2016
- Ben Bernanke, Former Chairman, Federal Reserve Bank
- Roger Ferguson, President and CEO, TIAA - View YouTube video
- Jud Linville, CEO, Citi Cards - View YouTube video
- Doug Oberhelman, Chairman and CEO, Caterpillar Inc. - View YouTube video
2014-2015
- Michael Brown, CEO and Co-Founder, City Year - View YouTube video
- Ursula Burns, CEO, Xerox Corp - View YouTube video
- David S. Taylor, Group President, Global Health & Grooming, P&G - View YouTube video
- Meg Whitman, President, Chairman and CEO, Hewlett-Packard Company - View YouTube video
2013-2014
- Jonathan Bush, CEO, President, and Chairman of the Board, athenahealth, Inc. - View YouTube video
- David Gergen,Co-Director, Center for Public Leadership, Professor of Public Service, Harvard Kennedy School - View YouTube Video
- Jeremy Grantham, Chairman and Co-Founder, Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo Company
- Joseph R. Swedish, CEO, WellPoint
2012-2013
- Tim Cook, CEO, Apple - View YouTube videos
- Chad Dickerson, CEO, Etsy.com - View YouTube video
- Shelly Lazarus, Chairman Emeritus, Ogilvy & Mather - View Youtube video
- Bill McDermott, Co-CEO, SAP - View YouTube video
- Walter Robb, Co-CEO, Whole Foods Inc. - View YouTube video
2011-2012
- Beth Comstock, SVP & Chief Marketing Officer, GE
- N.R. Narayana Murthy, Founder & Chairman Emeritus, Infosys
- Punit Renjen, Chairman, Deloitte LLP
- Bob Weber, SVP & General Counsel, IBM - View video in Fuqua's iTunes library
2010-2011
- George Barrett, Chairman & CEO, Cardinal Health
- Jim Quigley, CEO, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited - View video in Fuqua's iTunes library
- Donald Tong, Hong Kong Commissioner for Economic & Trade Affairs, USA - View video in Fuqua's iTunes library
- Rick Hendrick, Owner, Hendrick Motorsports - View video in Fuqua's iTunes library
- Jim McNerney, Chairman, President, & CEO, The Boeing Company - View video in Fuqua's iTunes library
- Emil Tedeschi, CEO, Atlantic Grupa - View video in Fuqua's iTunes library
- Bruce Johnson, Interim CEO, Sears Holdings - View video in Fuqua's iTunes library
- Sheila Bair, Chairman, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation - View video in Fuqua's iTunes library
2009-2010
- Craig Mundie, Chief Research & Strategy Officer, Microsoft Corporation - View video in Fuqua's iTunes library
- Jamie Dimon, Chairman & CEO, JPMorgan Chase & Co.
- Timothy Flynn, Chairman, KPMG LLP
- Paul Levy, CEO, Beth Israel Hospital
- Bob McDonald, CEO, P&G
- Duncan Niederauer, CEO, NYSE Euronext - View video in Fuqua's iTunes library
- George Bodenheimer, President, ESPN, Inc. and ABC Sports
- Bob McDonald, CEO, Procter & Gamble
2008-2009
- Stephen Quinn, Executive VP & Chief Marketing Officer, Walmart U.S.
- Jacqueline Novogratz, Founder & CEO, Acumen Fund
- Jonathan Reckford, CEO, Habitat for Humanity International
- Ron Nicol, Senior Partner & Managing Director, The Boston Consulting Group
- Pietra Rivoli, Professor, Georgetown University & Author of The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy
- John Mack, Chairman & CEO, Morgan Stanley
- Frank Mars, President, Mars Symbioscience, Mars, Inc.