{"id":3803,"date":"2026-07-03T14:35:59","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T14:35:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=3803"},"modified":"2026-07-03T14:35:59","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T14:35:59","slug":"months-after-viral-video-backlash-mcdonalds-ceo-joins-duke-board-of-trustees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=3803","title":{"rendered":"Months after viral video backlash, McDonald\u2019s CEO joins Duke Board of Trustees"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Board of Trustees at Duke University is replete with big names. There\u2019s the chair, Adam Silver, commissioner of the NBA. There\u2019s Tim Cook, CEO of Apple. There\u2019s J.B. Pritzker, governor of Illinois.<\/p>\n

Read more Cary, Garner change Fourth of July plans due to dangerous heat wave<\/a><\/p>\n

Now, they\u2019re joined by the man in charge of America\u2019s famous golden arches: CEO of McDonald\u2019s Corporation, Chris Kempczinski.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Duke announced that Kempczinski has joined the governing board responsible for the university\u2019s educational mission and fiscal policies. Kempczinski earned his bachelor\u2019s degree at Duke in public policy and economics back in 1991.<\/p>\n

The executive now oversees almost 50,000 McDonald\u2019s locations generating approximately $150 billion in sales, according to Duke.<\/p>\n

Kempczinski\u2019s name has gained dubious fame in recent months after he recorded and shared a video of himself<\/a> eating one of his own burgers \u2014 the new \u2018Big Arch\u2019 burger, in fact.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love this product. It is so good. I\u2019m going to do a tasting right now, but I\u2019m going to eat this for my lunch, just so you know,\u201d he said in the video. \u201cSo, here we go. First: Holy cow! God, that is a big burger.\u201d<\/p>\n

It went viral. His bite, some viewers said, was too small, his reaction too muted, the entire video too awkward. While his words said otherwise, his true enthusiasm over the burger appeared to fall short of company tagline \u201cI\u2019m lovin\u2019 it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Hurricanes\u2019 first pick in NHL draft willing to wait his turn, keep working<\/a><\/p>\n

The Wall Street Journal did a video interview<\/a> with Kempczinski in April where he addressed the “tempest\u201d around the video and again attempted to eat on camera, which in turn produced a fresh wave of backlash<\/a> around his timid biting style.<\/p>\n

After his time at Duke, Kempczinski went onto Harvard Business School. He held senior roles at PepsiCo and Kraft Heinz before joining McDonald\u2019s as an executive vice president in 2015. At Duke, he already serves on the council for the university\u2019s \u201cMade For This\u201d fundraising campaign<\/a> and as an emeritus member of the Trinity Board of Visitors, a volunteer group<\/a> that helps to advance the Trinity College of Arts & Sciences.<\/p>\n

The News & Observer found a letter Kempczinski wrote<\/a> to The Duke Chronicle in 1988 during his time as an undergraduate. In it, he defends the university\u2019s fraternities in the face of \u201cparochial and insecure\u201d attacks from \u201ccertain faculty.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFraternities are an important variable in the equation, providing a place not merely for drinking, but for interacting with the disparate elements of Duke and Durham,\u201d he wrote. \u201cAs a Kappa Sigma, our mixer with the Omega Psi Phi fraternity provided an opportunity to talk with [B]lack students whom I previously had little contact with. Did I learn? Yes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kempczinski will serve as a trustee at Duke from 2026 until 2032.<\/p>\n

The News & Observer reached out to McDonald\u2019s for comment but did not receive a response by time of publication. Duke did not have a comment beyond its announcement.<\/p>\n

Read more Was Confederate symbol ever part of NC\u2019s flag? How it came to \u2018State Fair\u2019 booth<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally published July 2, 2026 at 6:00 PM.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Duke University appoints McDonald\u2019s CEO Chris Kempczinski to its Board of Trustees; the alumnus will serve from 2026 to 2032 after a recent viral video backlash.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3802,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"\nMonths after viral video backlash, McDonald\u2019s CEO joins Duke Board of Trustees - Durham Moving Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=3803\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Months after viral video backlash, McDonald\u2019s CEO joins Duke Board of Trustees - Durham Moving Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Duke University appoints McDonald\u2019s CEO Chris Kempczinski to its Board of Trustees; the alumnus will serve from 2026 to 2032 after a recent viral video backlash.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=3803\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Durham Moving Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-03T14:35:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=3803#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=3803\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85\"},\"headline\":\"Months after viral video backlash, McDonald\u2019s CEO joins Duke Board of Trustees\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-03T14:35:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=3803\"},\"wordCount\":564,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=3803#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/2a8a207642e054aadcd3369c76a3c482.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Read today's Edition\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=3803#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=3803\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=3803\",\"name\":\"Months after viral video backlash, McDonald\u2019s CEO joins Duke Board of Trustees - Durham Moving Hub\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=3803#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=3803#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/2a8a207642e054aadcd3369c76a3c482.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-03T14:35:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=3803#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=3803\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=3803#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/2a8a207642e054aadcd3369c76a3c482.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/2a8a207642e054aadcd3369c76a3c482.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":674,\"caption\":\"FILE - This Tuesday, June 28, 2016, file photo shows a McDonald's sign at one of the company's restaurants in Miami. 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