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State Board of Education Vice Chair Alan Duncan received the 2025 Champion for Children Award from the North Carolina Association of School Administrators’ (NCASA) during the organization’s 2025 Conference on Educational Leadership last Friday.
The award is given annually to “an individual demonstrating leadership in supporting and enhancing public education,” according to a NCASA press release.
“Vice Chair Duncan is the epitome of a true Champion for Children,” said Katherine Joyce, NCASA’s executive director. “He has dedicated significant time and effort throughout his career volunteering in state and local leadership roles, in which he has focused on enhancing learning opportunities for all public school students and in uplifting teachers, administrators, and other school personnel.”
According to its website, the NCASA works to “ensure student success through visionary leadership,” promoting nonpartisan advocacy, up-to-date communications to inform school leaders, and professional development.
The NCASA gives two awards for education leaders, the Raymond Sarbaugh Leadership Award and the Champion for Children Award. The latter award, granted since 2006, has previously been awarded to leaders like Rep. Donny Lambeth, R-Forsyth; Jack Hoke, executive director of the North Carolina School Superintendents’ Association; and former Rep. Jeffrey Elmore.
This year’s winner, Duncan, has “more than two decades of advocacy on behalf of public schools,” according to the NCASA. Currently, Duncan serves as the vice chair on the State Board of Education, which he joined in May 2018 after being named by Gov. Roy Cooper to fill the vacated 5th Educational District (Piedmont Triad Region).
Before that, Duncan was a Democratic at-large member of the Guilford County school board from 2016 to 2018. During his time on that board — for which he served as chair — Duncan “worked tirelessly to protect teacher tenure, champion new initiatives such as cooperative innovative high schools, supported the implementation of a $457 million school bond, and advocated for overall increases in funding for local public schools and their students,” the release says.
He has also served in other government and community organizations, the NCASA release said, including Cooper’s Commission on Access to a Sound Basic Education, the North Carolina Task Force for Safer Schools, Ready for School/Ready for Life, Say Yes to Education, and the Guilford Education Alliance.
“Throughout his career, Vice Chair Duncan has worked to protect student and teacher safety and enhance student achievement,” NCASA said. “In his role as Vice Chair of the State Board of Education, he has advocated for addressing difficult but important topics such as the COVID-19 pandemic, school safety improvements, and ensuring accountability in school choice expansion across the state.”
In addition to his work to support public education, Duncan also works as an attorney with Van Laningham Duncan PLLC, and has practiced law for more than 40 years. He is a graduate from Davidson College and holds a law degree from Vanderbilt University.
Duncan lives in Greensboro with his wife Pam, who is also a practicing lawyer, and they have two daughters.
“Because all thanks for our successes in education go to our educators, I struggle to think that I am deserving of this award and certainly feel honored beyond all bounds by being the recipient of it,” Duncan said. “Outside of my family, nothing has given me a sense of purpose more than the work to support our educators and children, who are so deserving of our support. I am grateful for this honor, and I look forward to continuing the work for our children and supporting our educators in the years to come.”
NCASA said: “As a steady and trusted voice in shaping policies that benefit educators and their students, Vice Chair Duncan’s dedication to addressing systemic challenges and enhancing opportunities for all students will have a positive impact on North Carolina’s public schools for years to come.”
