John Duffy was a historian of medicine and public health. The author of 11 books and editor of two others, he taught the history of medicine and public health at Tulane, Louisiana State University, the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Louisville, Rice University, and the University of Maryland. He served as president of the American Association for the History of Medicine and the Washington Society for the History of Medicine, interim editor of American Historical Review and a member of the executive council of the Southern Historical Association.