Duke Trustees Elect Silver as Next Chair

Trustees also set tuition, fees for next academic year

Adam Silver
Adam Silver will succeed Laurene Sperling as chair of the Board of Trustees on July 1.

During its quarterly meeting and retreat, the Duke University Board of Trustees elected Duke alumnus and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to serve as the board’s next chair, succeeding Laurene Sperling. Silver’s three-year term will begin July 1.  

A member of the Board of Trustees since 2015, Silver has served as vice chair and a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees since 2021. He has led the Committee on Honorary Degrees and co-chaired the 2021-2022 steering committee for strategic engagement. In addition, he has been a member of the facilities and environment, human resources and undergraduate education committees, and the strategic task forces on the Next Generation Living and Learning Experience and Climate Change and Sustainability.

In May 2023, Silver delivered the university’s commencement address in Wallace Wade Stadium.

“It is an honor to serve as the next chair of Duke’s Board of Trustees,” Silver said.  “Duke is well-positioned to flourish under the leadership of President Price, and I am excited to continue to work alongside him and my fellow trustees to build on the university’s long track record of success.”

A 1984 Duke graduate, Silver also earned a law degree from the University of Chicago.  He served as a law clerk to Federal District Court Judge Kimba Wood and as an associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore before joining the NBA in 1992.  

Silver was appointed NBA Commissioner in 2014 and presides over a global sports and media organization built around five professional sports leagues:  the NBA, WNBA, NBA G League, NBA 2K League and Basketball Africa League. Under his leadership, the leagues are dedicated to growing basketball around the world, promoting health and fitness, and using the sport to bring people together.

“Adam is a brilliant, thoughtful, and wise leader with an unyielding dedication to Duke’s mission, a keen understanding of the many complexities of higher education, and a profound commitment to advancing opportunity through our teaching, research, and service,” said President Vincent E. Price. “I look forward to his leadership of the Board of Trustees as we pursue the great promise of Duke’s second century, and I extend my deepest gratitude to Laurene Sperling for her exceptional leadership over the past three years.”

Silver has received Distinguished Alumni Awards from the Duke Political Science Department and the University of Chicago Law School, as well as the University of Chicago’s Professional Achievement Award.  

He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, serves on the Board of Trustees for the Rockefeller Foundation, the Paley Center for Media, and New York-Presbyterian Hospital, and is Vice Chairman of the Lustgarten Pancreatic Cancer Foundation.

In other business, the board approved tuition and fees for the next academic year.

Following analysis and discussion with university leadership, the trustees approved a proposed 4.4% increase in undergraduate cost of attendance, as well as new tuition and fees for Duke’s graduate and professional schools. The trustees also reaffirmed Duke’s commitment to access and affordability by providing financial aid for all admitted undergraduate students who qualify.

For 2024-25, undergraduate tuition will be $66,325, and total cost of attendance, including tuition, fees, room and board will be $86,886.

Tuition increases for graduate and professional school programs range from 0% to 5.0%.

More than half of Duke undergraduate students receive some form of financial assistance, including need-based aid, athletic scholarships and endowed competitive scholarships. Duke is one of a small number of colleges and universities where U.S. citizens and eligible noncitizens applying for financial aid are not disadvantaged in the admission process. Once students are admitted, Duke then meets full demonstrated financial need. For more information, go to the Karsh Office of Undergraduate Financial Support website.

In addition, in 2023 Duke announced the Carolinas Financial Aid Initiative. With support from The Duke Endowment, Duke University provides full tuition grants for admitted undergraduate students who are residents of North Carolina and South Carolina and who come from families with a total income of $150,000 or less. For Duke undergraduates from the Carolinas with total family incomes of $65,000 or less, the university provides full tuition grants, plus financial assistance for housing, meals and other expenses, without loans. For more information, go to the Carolinas Financial Aid Initiative website.

Since 2012, Duke has invested approximately $1.5 billion in financial assistance for undergraduate students.

The board held strategic sessions on the future of intercollegiate athletics, advancing the Duke Climate Commitment, and the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on higher education.

The board also received updates on the upcoming comprehensive campaign, Duke Kunshan University (DKU) and the Duke University Health System, and approved recommendations from the board’s standing committees.