JOSEPH Z. DUKE III

Joe Duke, President of Jacksonville-based OffRoad Holdings, is an industrial designer and entrepreneur whose business life involved manufacturing and advertising. He is a third-generation Floridian and resides in Ponte Vedra Beach and Hobe Sound, Florida, as well as Oldwick, New Jersey. Duke and his wife, Jennifer, run an organic family farm in New Jersey and have restored a tract of Florida timberland to native long leaf pine. The couple have been deeply involved in environmental issues for many years. Duke is a member of the founding family of Harbor Branch Foundation and former Chairman of the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute Foundation Board from 2010 to 2015. He served as a trustee at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution for 12 years, which allowed him to pursue his fascination with ocean science and engineering. In 1990, he sponsored the Jason Project for the Duval County Public Schools to interest children in science. His interest in oceanography led to assisting his friend and colleague, Dr. Robert Ballard found the Institute for Exploration. Through a family charitable foundation, The River Branch Foundation, Duke and his wife support various scientific and conservation non-profit organizations, including The Nature Conservancy, Florida Audubon, 1,000 Friends of Florida, North Florida Land Trust, St. John’s River Keeper, Matanzas River Keeper, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute Foundation, Florida Oceanographic, Plant a Million Corals Foundation, and The Everglades Foundation. An avid outdoorsman, angler, and aviator, Duke’s spirit of adventure has taken him from deep-water archaeology in the Mediterranean to desert racing in Baja. He flies seaplanes and restores vintage airplanes including a 1954 Grumman Albatross amphibian. Duke is currently engaged in a long-term ecosystem restoration project of a commercial pine plantation in north Florida, returning the property to its natural condition.