- The 7-month blended Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) Program helps senior HR leaders strengthen enterprise perspective, strategic influence, boardroom fluency, workforce strategy, and high-stakes leadership decision-making.
- Participants receive the Chief Human Resources Officer Program certificate from Duke Executive Education and Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. Build a Capstone Project, the CHRO Impact Plan, designed as a practical roadmap for real organizational challenges.
Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business has launched the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) Program, a 7-month blended executive learning experience built for senior HR leaders ready to operate at the highest levels of enterprise leadership. Delivered through live online sessions, faculty-led instruction, and an on-campus immersion at Duke Fuqua, the program is designed for CHROs, recently appointed CHROs, and high-potential HR executives identified for enterprise leadership roles.
Why It Matters Now
The world of work is being restructured by AI, and every assumption about talent, roles, and organizational design is being tested. According to EY's CHRO 2030 Market Insights, 89% of employers believe HR's role will need to fundamentally change to meet evolving talent and strategic business needs. Against this backdrop, the CHRO is positioned as a key architect of enterprise performance, culture, and long-term value, with people strategy becoming central to business strategy.
Curriculum and Learning Outcomes
The curriculum is structured around the real challenges CHROs face, rather than a traditional HR syllabus. It begins with enterprise realities, expectations, and scope, including what it means to be a CHRO, finance, risk, value creation, legal and reputational challenges, and the enterprise agenda across AI, brand, and transformation. Learners progress into designing, developing, and delivering impact through workforce strategy, culture at scale, transformation labs, CHRO Advisory Labs, and the politics of the C-suite. Advanced areas include enterprise-level leadership, CEO succession, talent risk, organizational design, boardroom readiness, compensation committees, governance dynamics, AI, technology, growth, executive presence, and resilient leadership.
The curriculum culminates in the CHRO Impact Plan, a Capstone Project built across five phases: identifying the opportunity, developing a plan, shaping stakeholder communication, creating an implementation roadmap, and establishing continuous monitoring and adaptation.
Program Highlights and Benefits
The program is shaped in collaboration with a CHRO Advisory Council composed of experienced Fortune 100 HR leaders. Participants work directly with sitting CHROs as mentors in small-group advisory sessions designed for candid discussion and practical problem-solving. The program focuses on defining CHRO leadership moments, including crises and reputational risks, CEO and board dynamics, transformation and organizational change, and high-stakes workforce decisions.
Upon successful completion, participants receive a Certificate of Completion from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and Duke Executive Education. Benefits include inclusion in The Fuqua School of Business alumni LinkedIn network with 15,000+ alumni members, access to the Fuqua alumni directory, access to CareerBridge, access to Fuqua alumni events and webinars, and access to the Fuqua School of Business Ford Library while on campus.
Delivery and Learner Experience
The program is offered in a blended format that combines classroom modules at the Duke University campus with live-online sessions. Participants learn from Duke faculty and industry experts, alongside HR leaders from around the world. The learning experience includes CHRO Advisory Labs and Mentorship, the CHRO Impact Plan, classroom sessions at Duke University, live-online sessions, small-group guidance from sitting CHROs, faculty-led instruction, and a Capstone Executive Forum where participants present their project and receive peer feedback through the lens of CEO- and board-level expectations. The program fee is USD 25,000, inclusive of all taxes, and the learning experience focuses on CEO and board dynamics, high-stakes talent and organizational decisions, enterprise performance, culture, transformation, and workforce strategy.
Certificate and Closing
Upon successful completion, participants receive the Chief Human Resources Officer Program certificate from Duke Executive Education and Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. Through its focus on enterprise leadership, workforce strategy, CEO and board dynamics, AI, governance, and applied organizational problem-solving, the program is designed to help senior HR leaders translate human capital strategy into measurable business outcomes.
About Duke University
Duke University traces its origins to a small school that opened in 1838 in Randolph County, North Carolina. Today, Duke University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award baccalaureate, master’s, doctorate, and professional degrees. Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business was founded in 1969 and is known for attracting and nurturing leaders who bring out the strength in others and move teams toward a common purpose.
