John Delaney

John Adrian Delaney (born June 29, 1956) is an American lawyer, politician and university administrator. He currently serves as the president of the University of North Florida. A member of the Republican Party, he served as mayor of Jacksonville, Florida from 1995 to 2003. In addition he also served as interim chancellor of the State University System of Florida.

Early life

Delaney was born in Lansing, Michigan and was raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. His family moved to Jacksonville when he was sixteen. He graduated from Terry Parker High School in 1974 and attended the University of Florida, where he joined Delta Upsilon fraternity and received a B.A. and a law degree. Delaney and his wife Gena married in 1980 and reside in Neptune Beach. They have four children.

Delaney passed the Florida Bar exam in 1981^[1] and was hired by then State Attorney Ed Austin, eventually becoming Austin's Chief Assistant State Attorney. When Austin was elected Mayor of Jacksonville in 1991, Delaney became the city's General Counsel for a short time, and then served as Austin's chief of staff. Delaney ran for mayor himself in 1995 when Austin declined to seek a second term.

Mayor of Jacksonville

In 1995, Delaney defeated former mayor Jake Godbold to become mayor of Jacksonville, Florida, serving two consecutive terms from 1995 to 2003. He was the first Republican elected to the position since Reconstruction. He was succeeded by John Peyton in July 2003.

During his mayoral term, Delaney was noted for launching the Better Jacksonville Plan, a massive, $2.25 billion package of projects for municipal improvements funded by a sales tax increase, as well as the Preservation Project, a series of land grants for parks. He was one of the most popular mayors in Jacksonville's history, enjoying consistently high approval ratings and running unopposed for his second election. In 2003, he received the President's Conservation Achievement Award from The Nature Conservancy for the Preservation Project.^[2]

University of North Florida

Delaney was appointed President of the University of North Florida (UNF) in 2003, which resulted in a surge of building projects, including a new Student Union building and a new Social Sciences building, as well as a proposed slate of new programs to build UNF according to the master plan.^[3] Under his leadership, the university has launched a flagship program designed to identify its top programs, which ran through 2009. The program works with local and state officials in finding suitable programs that students can use to benefit the First Coast area and the state of Florida as a whole. Delaney has made UNF the only state university in Florida to promise not cutting employee positions in the wake of the budget shortfall in the state in 2008.

State University System of Florida

In October 2008, John Delaney was named interim chancellor of the State University System of Florida. He took over for Mark B. Rosenberg who had resigned to return to Florida International University. He served for the 2009 legislative session, and was not paid any compensation. In July 2009, Frank T. Brogan was named the new chancellor of the State University System.

References

External links

• University of North Florida President's Office page