Dear Rice Community,
I am writing to share the sad news that Charles W. Duncan, Jr. ’47, trustee emeritus and past chairman of the board of governors of Rice University, has passed away.
Charles served various terms on Rice’s governing board beginning in 1965, until being named chairman of the board in 1982. Under his 14-year chairmanship, Rice’s endowment quadrupled to $1.7 billion. He twice led the search for a university president, lobbied for the recruitment of international students, and helped establish Rice’s James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, a globally respected nonpartisan think tank. Charles’ guidance led to significant growth across engineering, science and the arts, and he was instrumental in shaping Rice into one of the top universities in the nation, known equally for its undergraduate education and research contributions.
Beyond his exemplary service on the board, Charles’ legacy is reflected in his and his wife’s extraordinary generosity. In 2007, Charles and Anne donated $30 million to establish Duncan College, Rice’s 11th residential college. Their passion for environmental sustainability drove Duncan College to be designated as one of the first buildings in Houston to receive LEED Gold certification. Current and future generations of Duncan College students - “Duncaroos” - will continue to be grateful for this extraordinary gift to expand the student body while sustaining Rice’s unique student culture.
Charles’ legacy also will endure through the Charles W. Duncan, Jr.-Welch Chair in Chemistry, the Anne and Charles Duncan Concertmaster Chair, and the Lillian H. Duncan Prize for Excellence in Piano, honoring Charles’ mother. On his retirement from the board in 1996, the School of Engineering named its new computational engineering building Anne and Charles Duncan Hall. In 1997, the Board of Trustees approved the Charles W. Duncan Jr. Achievement Award for Outstanding Faculty and the Anne S. and Charles W. Duncan, Jr. Fund in the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy.
A native Houstonian, Charles graduated in 1943 from Sewanee Academy, a boarding school in Tennessee, before matriculating to Rice in 1943. He left Rice his junior year in 1945 to serve in the U.S. Air Force as an aviation cadet during World War II, returning to campus later that year and ultimately earning his B.S. in chemical engineering in 1947. Many years later, at the dedication ceremony for Duncan College, Charles recalled, “Edgar Odell Lovett was still president my first year at Rice, and I remember every time I would walk by him he would speak to me. He couldn’t have known me, because I was 16 when I came to Rice. But he was a very pleasant gentleman.”
Following graduation from Rice, Charles worked as a roustabout and chemical engineer for Humble Oil and Refining Co., before joining Duncan Foods Company, a coffee roasting company founded by his uncle, Hershel Mills Duncan. He was elected president of the company in 1958, led the merger with the Coca-Cola Company in 1964, and was elected president of the company in 1971.
In addition to his remarkable professional success, Charles is widely known for his exemplary civic service. Most notably, he served as deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Defense (1977-79) and as secretary of the Department of Energy (1979-81), both under President Jimmy Carter. He also served on the Texas governor's Select Committee on Public Education, was subsequently appointed to a four-year term on the Texas State Board of Education, and served as co-chairman of the Texas Business and Education Coalition.
Charles also was actively involved with numerous charitable and corporate organizations, including the American Express Co., United Technologies Corp. and the Newfield Exploration Co. He served as treasurer of Houston Methodist Hospital’s board of directors for many years and was appointed a life member in 2007.
It is impossible to summarize the breadth and depth of Charles’ impact on our university, let alone our city, state and country. His steadfast leadership, good nature, humility, civic-mindedness, courage and unceasing desire to make an impact on the world are qualities we all try to emulate. Together with Anne, his wife of 65 years, they have influenced countless lives and have set the highest standard for service.
Read more about Charles’ contributions to Rice in Rice News.
Respectfully,
President Reginald DesRoches