Head and shoulders image of Duff Spafford, professor, Political Studies.

Bio/Historical Note: Dufferin Stewart Spafford was born 18 March 1936 at Weyburn, Saskatchewan, where his grandfather Dufferin Charles Spafford homesteaded in 1902. Living with his family on the farm and then in a succession of small towns left Duff with an enduring attachment to rural Saskatchewan. He grew up playing sports and played on hockey and baseball teams throughout his youth. After Duff’s high school years in Shellbrook, where he had a job at the weekly Chronicle and learned to set type, he worked as a city reporter and sometime sports editor at the Prince Albert Herald. There Duff became acquainted with the high school columnist, Shirley King, his future wife. As a student at the University of Saskatchewan, he was editor of The Sheaf in 1956-1957 and worked part-time at the Western Producer. After graduation, he went on to study at the London School of Economics, returning to Saskatchewan to teach, first in the joint Department of Economics and Political science, and then in Political Studies. Over Duff’s forty years as a professor, he made notable contributions to political studies and research on elections. Beyond academic life, he was full of ideas and enthusiasms, among them collecting, gardening, sports, and books. Duff assembled a significant collection of Saskatchewan archival materials and artifacts, including clay works made by the university's Department of Ceramics. He was a founding member and first treasurer of the Saskatchewan Perennial Society. After retirement Duff started the College Building Book Collection of writings by University of Saskatchewan student authors. He was passionate about the university and its history, particularly the achievements of its alumni, and in the course of his research discovered long forgotten notable graduates. In [2014] Duff was awarded an Alumni Achievement Award and was the first recipient of the USRA (University of Saskatchewan Retirees Association) Duff Spafford Award for Exceptional Service to the University Community, named in his honour. Duff died of a brain tumour on 14 May 2014 in Saskatoon.