Mary Frances Luce Appointed Dean of Fuqua School of Business

Mary Frances Luce has been named dean of the Fuqua School of Business, Duke Provost Alec D. Gallimore announced Tuesday. Luce will begin her term April 1. 

Luce has served as interim dean since August 1, 2024, and is the Robert A. Ingram Professor of Business Administration. She is the first Fuqua graduate to serve as dean, having earned her Ph.D. in business administration with a concentration in marketing from Duke in 1994. She joined the Duke faculty in 2004. 

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“I am delighted that Mary Frances Luce will be Fuqua’s next dean,” Gallimore said. “Mary Fran is a trusted leader with deep institutional knowledge who has led Fuqua through significant challenges as interim dean and won the respect of faculty, staff, and students for her integrity, transparency, and effectiveness. Her commitment to supporting rigorous faculty research, as well as her appreciation for Fuqua’s special culture, will be strong assets as she implements her vision for the school. I am grateful to the search committee for the time and care they brought to their task.” 

Luce has built a notable career of academic leadership. As interim dean, Luce has helped the school navigate through the university-wide strategic realignment and cost-reduction process while preserving core operations. She reorganized faculty leadership, made improvements in recruitment for the Daytime MBA program and led significant growth in Fuqua’s Executive Education programs, nearly tripling revenue and expanding Duke faculty participation and partnership. Under her leadership, Fuqua achieved its second-best fundraising year in history in 2025, including a record for gifts to the Annual Fund. 

“I am thrilled to be named dean of Fuqua at this moment in its history,” said Luce. “My experience as interim dean has only deepened my conviction that Fuqua’s future is extraordinarily bright. 

“The magic of this school is its people—the talent, commitment, and shared purpose of our faculty, staff, students, alumni, and partners. Team Fuqua has always found opportunity in change. From pioneering AI tools that help students become more effective leaders by building stronger teams to bringing faculty thought leadership directly into the classroom, every member of the Fuqua community is important for translating academic rigor into meaningful results. I look forward to leading Fuqua during this new season of opportunity.”

Prior to her appointment as interim dean, Luce served six years as Fuqua’s associate dean and senior associate dean of the faculty. 

She has also held leadership positions at the university level. Luce previously served as an associate vice president for Duke’s Office of Research & Innovation—the first to be focused on the humanities, arts, and social sciences. In that role, she facilitated collaboration across schools and disciplines, launched the university’s Explore Seed Grants program, and strengthened support for community-engaged and international scholarship.

Luce also served as interim executive vice chancellor of Duke Kunshan University (DKU), overseeing the launch of DKU’s Phase 2 campus expansion as well as a successful return to full in-person operations following the Covid-19 pandemic. She has continued to serve as one of three Duke representatives to the DKU Board of Trustees, which oversees strategic planning, maintains fiduciary duties, and provides strategic direction to the joint venture university in China. 

Luce’s research centers around emotion and decision-making, particularly in health contexts. She has developed courses in healthcare marketing and value-based care, has contributed to curricular innovation, particularly in health sector management, and has taught students in all of Fuqua’s ten degree programs. Her national leadership roles in her field include serving as president of the Association for Consumer Research and as a co-editor of behavioral marketing's flagship journal, the Journal of Consumer Research.

Luce began her academic career at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where she taught for ten years and earned tenure. Before pursuing her Ph.D. from Fuqua, Luce earned a bachelor of science degree from Ball State University. 

Her appointment follows a nationwide search by a committee co-chaired by Fuqua faculty Fernando Bernstein, William and Sue Gross Distinguished Professor of Business Administration, and David Robinson, James and Gail Vander Weide Distinguished Professor of Finance. 

“Mary Frances Luce impressed everyone on the committee with her energy, her commitment to the school, and her vision for Duke’s role in the future of business education,” Robinson said. “We had the privilege of interviewing a truly impressive slate of candidates for this position, but one candidate stood out above the rest—our own Mary Fran.” 

Luce succeeds Bill Boulding, who served as Fuqua’s dean from 2011 to 2024 and is the J.B. Fuqua Professor of Business Administration. 

Established in 1969, the Fuqua School of Business is a top-ranked graduate business school with more than 100 faculty members who advance the understanding of management through their research and teaching. More than 2,000 students are enrolled each year in Fuqua’s MBA, other masters and Ph.D. programs that offer a wide range of formats and flexibility for full-time students and working professionals.