John B. Duff

Who is John B. Duff?

John Bernard Duff was an American historian born in South Orange, New Jersey on July 1, 1931 to John Bernard Duff, Sr. and Mary Cunningham Duff. He was the oldest of four brothers, including Thomas, Joseph and Peter Duff. He graduated from Our Lady of the Valley High School in 1949.

In 1955, he married Helen Dorothy Mezzanotti, to whom he was married for 33 years.

A historian, he received a B.A. from Fordham University, a M.A. from Seton Hall University, and a PhD from Columbia University.

In 1970, following a decade as a professor of history at Seton Hall University, he was appointed vice-president for Academic Affairs. In 1973, Duff became the first lay provost and executive vice-president in the history of Seton Hall.

In 1976, he became the first president of the new University of Lowell, in Lowell, Mass., which would later become the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.

Duff was elected as the first chancellor of the Board of Regents in Massachusetts in 1981 and served there until 1986. On November 12, 1985, he was the first non-librarian appointed as the commissioner of the Chicago public library system. While at that post, he supervised the construction of the Harold Washington Library, the world’s largest public library.