Duane Bonifer

Associate Vice President, Communications and Marketing

B.A. – University of Kentucky, journalism and political science, 1991

M.A. – Bellarmine (Kentucky) University, communications, 2012

A Louisville, Kentucky, native, Duane has worked in higher education for more than 25 years.

Before coming to Monmouth, he served in the public relations office at Lindsey Wilson (Kentucky) College. Duane has also worked at newspapers in Kentucky and Indiana. Duane was appointed to the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights, serving as vice chair of the state agency.

Duane has also served as president of the alumni board of the University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media and chairman of the Kentucky Kernel Press Inc., which oversees the independent student newspaper of the University of Kentucky.

Duane holds a bachelor of arts degree in journalism and political science from UK and a master of arts in communication from Bellarmine (Kentucky) University. He has also completed graduate work in UK’s educational policy studies and evaluation program.

Although I am not a Monmouth alumnus, Monmouth is a big part of my family. My wife, Kristyne, is a member of the Class of 1990. Our daughter, Kelcey, is a 2015 graduate; our son-in-law, Adam, is a 2016 graduate; and our son C.J. is a 2022 graduate. Our son Gary Parker is a member of the Monmouth Class of 2026. Our third son, Kyle, has excelled as a student at Iowa State University. We hope that our three granddaughters – Ellie, Evie and Mila – will become Scots one day.

My master’s degree is from a liberal arts college, but I did not have the privilege of being an undergraduate student on a close-knit campus full of red-brick buildings. Having spent my entire career in higher education serving at a liberal arts college, it makes me a bit envious to see the experiences and opportunities students are afforded at a college such as Monmouth. To paraphrase a late friend, I wish I had attended college at a school like Monmouth.