Arne Duncan was nominated to be secretary of education by President Barack Obama and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Jan. 20, 2009. Prior to his appointment as Secretary of Education, Duncan served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Chicago Public Schools, a position to which he was appointed by Mayor Richard M. Daley, from June 2001 through December 2008, becoming the longest-serving big-city education superintendent in the country.