Chris Simmons

Chris Simmons is the Vice President for Government Relations at Duke University.134 He joined Duke in 2006 and has since held various leadership positions in government relations and public affairs.24 Simmons is responsible for overseeing all aspects of government relations at Duke and serves as a member of the President's Cabinet.3

In his role, Simmons is Duke's principal point of contact and spokesperson on legislative and regulatory issues involving the federal government, focusing on areas such as student financial aid, academic research, international education, tax policy, intellectual property, and immigration.13 He also oversees Duke in DC, the university's academic center and home for research and official events in Washington, DC.1

Prior to his tenure at Duke, Simmons worked in advocacy roles for the Association of American Universities (AAU) and the American Council on Education (ACE) in Washington, DC.14 He has also served as a policy analyst for the National Commission on the Cost of Higher Education and as Assistant Director of Admissions at Willamette University.14

Simmons holds a Bachelor of Arts in Rhetoric and Art from Willamette University and a graduate degree from Harvard University.14 He is actively involved in various professional committees and has received recognition for his contributions to higher education, including the AAU Legacy Award in 2020.1