Our Team

Duke Albanese is senior policy advisor for the Great Schools Partnership. His career in education has spanned over forty years, including service as the Commissioner of Education for the State of Maine (1996–2003) and a long tenure as the superintendent of schools for the Messalonskee School District in the Belgrade Lakes Region of Maine. Duke is a nationally sought-after adviser and speaker on educational issues and policies, and a founding director of the Congressionally-funded Sports Done Right initiative at the University of Maine. He helped lead the development and adoption of Maine’s Learning Results, as well as the Maine Learning Technology Initiative, the nation’s landmark effort aimed at providing all middle and high school students with laptops and 1:1 access to technology. Originally hailing from East Providence, Rhode Island, he attended public schools before earning a BA from Bowdoin College and an MEd in guidance and counseling and a CAS in educational administration from the University of Maine. Duke and his wife, Nancy, live in Brunswick, Maine, and have two grown children, Derek and Kelsey, and two grandchildren.