Fellow: Mark Duffy

Mark Duffy, director of The Archives of the Episcopal Church, will be inducted as a Fellow of the Society of American Archivists (SAA) during a ceremony at the Joint Annual Meeting of the Council of State Archivists, the National Association of Government Archives and Records Administrators, and SAA in Washington, DC, August 10–16, 2014. The distinction of Fellow is the highest honor bestowed on individuals by SAA and is awarded for outstanding contributions to the archives profession.

Duffy earned a master’s degree in history and archives from the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and achieved doctoral candidacy at the School of Information, University of Texas at Austin. Duffy worked in a variety of institutions early in his career. Serving as the chief archivist and project director for the City of Boston Archives, Duffy was responsible for initiating and administering a comprehensive municipal archives and records management program for the first time for the city. Duffy also worked at Harvard University for six years, as associate curator for University Records and Planning and later as associate director for the Harvard Depository. “It is not always easy to make the change from a government records program to a university, nor is it easy to administer records in an academic setting. [Duffy] flourished in the academic setting. . . . The outstanding abilities [Duffy] evidenced by balancing current records work within an academic library setting is a testament to his intelligence and commitment to archives programs,” one supporter wrote.

Duffy has held his current position as director of The Archives of the Episcopal Church since 1992. “He successfully educated the bishop and senior staff about the lifecycle of records and gained their support to build the archives—almost from scratch,” one supporter wrote. His astute and resourceful development of the church archives, and his masterful implementation of records systems and a digital archives program there, has made it one of the soundest programs among religious archives in the country.

As Duffy built the archives of the Episcopal Church, he published articles and manuals on religious archives, which have won awards and become standards in the professional literature. Duffy’s stature in his field of specialization was recognized in 2012 when he was the recipient of the SAA and Society of Southwest Archivists’ Sister M. Claude Lane, O.P., Memorial Award for his significant contributions to the field of religious archives.

Duffy also has made distinguished contributions to SAA. He has served in a variety of leadership positions, starting with the Archivists of Religious Collections Section, then as a member of the Nominating Committee, the SAA Council, co-chair of the 2009 Program Committee, and currently as treasurer of SAA and the SAA Foundation. Duffy was central to the development of the SAA Foundation since first serving on the Council; he initiated and stewarded the 2013 annual fund drive, which brought in $40,000 in donations.

“[Duffy] has never been satisfied with the status quo, and certainly not with mediocrity. He pays attention to the tiny details while always thinking of the big picture, and he never shirks a job that needs to be done if it means progress toward the short- and long-term goals,” one supporter wrote.

Duffy is one of five new Fellows named in 2014. There are currently 179 Fellows of the Society of American Archivists.