Joseph Duffey

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Joseph Duffey
Chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Amherst
In office
1982–1991
Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities
In office
1977–1981
PresidentJimmy Carter
Ronald Reagan
Preceded byRobert Kingston (acting)
Succeeded byWilliam Bennett
Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs
In office
1977–1978
PresidentJimmy Carter
Preceded byJohn Richardson Jr.
Succeeded byAlice Stone Ilchman
Personal details
Born
Joseph Daniel Duffey

(1932-07-01)July 1, 1932
Huntington, West Virginia, U.S.
DiedFebruary 25, 2021(2021-02-25) (aged 88)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Spouses
Patricia Fortney
(m. 1952, divorced)
(m. 1974; died 2009)
Education
PhD)
Signature

Joseph Daniel Duffey (July 1, 1932 – February 25, 2021) was an American academic, educator, anti-war activist and political appointee. He was the Democratic Party's candidate in the 1970 U.S. Senate election in Connecticut, losing to Republican Lowell Weicker. He later served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs; the chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities; the director of the U.S. Information Agency; and the president or chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the University of Massachusetts system and American University.

Early life and education

Duffey was born in

Hartford Seminary Foundation in 1969.[2]

Career

From 1960 to 1970, Duffey was an assistant professor and then acting dean and associate professor at Hartford Seminary. He was also founder and director of the Center for Urban Studies there.[4]

1970 election

Duffey ran for the

U.S. Senate in 1970 as a prominent anti-Vietnam War candidate; he had just turned 35 years old. The campaign became notable because several of Duffey's young supporters went on to prominent careers in Democratic politics, including future president Bill Clinton, a Yale Law School student at the time.[5]

The

Christopher Dodd. Dodd, who had been censured by the Senate for corruption, was not re-nominated by the Democratic Party. Instead, Duffey joined Stamford businessman Alphonsus J. (Al) Donahue, State Senate President Edward Marcus, and former congressman Donald J. Irwin[6] in a race to win the party endorsement. Donahue won the Democratic convention, but Duffey went on to win the primary. He finished second in a three-way general election race to Lowell Weicker, with Senator Dodd running as an independent. Some of these events were captured in a documentary, Dissent of the Governed.[7]

Anne Wexler ran Duffey's 1970 campaign. They subsequently married in September 1974, after they had both divorced their respective spouses.[8]

Academics

Duffey was a fellow at

Calhoun College from 1971 to 1973. During this time, he worked for the George McGovern 1972 presidential campaign.[4] From 1974 to 1976, he acted as the chief administrative officer and spokesman for the American Association of University Professors.[9][10] He worked on the Carter–Mondale transition team between 1976 and 1977, and was Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs in 1977 and 1978.[2][3] Duffey was unsatisfied in the latter role, and was reportedly unenthusiastic about being nominated to the National Endowment for the Humanities.[4]

Duffey was appointed chairman of the NEH in August 1977, after an impasse that lasted for half a year.[3] In his capacity as chairman Duffey was central to obtaining NEH funding that established the Library of America.[11]

He served as chairman of NEH until 1982, when he became chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Amherst.[12] The position of president of the entire University of Massachusetts system was added to his responsibilities in 1990.[13] One year later, he acted as joint head of the American delegation of election observers in Ethiopia.[14] He was named as president of American University in 1991 and served for two years.[12]

Duffey became the final director of the

Laureate International Universities network programs and partnerships worldwide.[16]

Honors

Duffey was conferred 14 honorary degrees from American colleges and universities. He was named Commander of the Order of the Crown by the King of Belgium in 1980. Thirteen years later, he was granted an honorary Doctor of Letters by Ritsumeikan University in Japan. He was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations from 1979 until his death.[14]

Personal life

Duffey married his first wife, Patricia Fortney, in 1952, when he was 19 years old. They had met at a Baptist church youth convention. Together, they had two children: David (who predeceased him in 2019) and Michael. They divorced after the Senate election in 1970.[2] His second wife, Anne Wexler (1930–2009), was a political advisor and lobbyist. She also had two sons from her previous marriage. She died of cancer on August 7, 2009 at age 79.[8]

Duffey died on February 25, 2021, at a retirement community in Washington, D.C.[2] He was 88, and was ill in the time leading up to his death.[12]

Selected works

  • Remarks on the Humanities (1977)[17]
  • "The American Century and Its Discontents, Chapter Four of "At the End of the American Century (1998)
  • Foreword, The Pakistan Cauldron by James P. Farwell (2011)

References

  1. ^ "Educator, activist Joseph Duffey dies". texarkanagazette.com. March 2, 2021. Retrieved March 3, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Smith, Harrison (February 27, 2021). "Joseph Duffey, educator and antiwar activist behind influential Senate campaign, dies at 88". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Tuck, Lon (August 2, 1977). "Carter's Man Takes on Humanities". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  4. ^ .
  5. The Hartford Courant
    , January 18, 1993.
  6. ^ "Democrats Meet in Connecticut". The New York Times. June 27, 1970. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  7. ^ "Dissent Of The Governed". Retrieved March 3, 2021 – via Internet Archive.
  8. ^ a b Martin, Douglas. "Anne Wexler, an Influential Political Operative and Lobbyist, Is Dead at 79", The New York Times, August 8, 2009. Accessed August 8, 2009.
  9. ^ "General Secretaries of the Association". American Association of University Professors. September 9, 2008. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  10. ^ "Death of Joseph Duffey". American Association of University Professors. March 1, 2021. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  11. ^ Skinner, David. "Edmund Wilson’s Big Idea: A Series of Books Devoted to Classic American Writing. It Almost Didn’t Happen." HumanitiesSeptember/October 2015, Volume 36, Number 5.
  12. ^ a b c Altimari, Daniela (February 26, 2021). "Joe Duffey, who inspired liberals during his 1970 anti-war campaign for U.S. Senate in Connecticut, dies at 88". Hartford Courant. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  13. ^ [1] University of Massachusetts Amherst website
  14. ^ .
  15. Office of The Historian
    website
  16. ^ Honan, William H. (January 20, 1999). "Sylvan Plans Overseas College Network". The New York Times. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  17. ^ Occasional Paper, Issues 1–5. National Endowment for the Humanities. 1969.

External links

Party political offices
Preceded by
Class 1)
1970
Succeeded by
Government offices
Preceded by
John Richardson, Jr.
Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs
April 8, 1977 – March 21, 1978
Succeeded by
Preceded by Chairperson of the National Endowment for the Humanities
1977–1981
Succeeded by
Academic offices
Preceded by President, American University
1991–1994
Succeeded by