Former Democratic senator and federal court judge Francis Ryan Duffy was born on June 23, 1888 in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, the son of Francis F. Duffy and Hattie E. Ryan. In 1906 he graduated from Fond du Lac High School, where he was president of his class and a member of the debating, track, and baseball teams. As a student at the University of Wisconsin, Duffy was also active on the track and cross-country teams and as a member of the debating team won the William F. Vilas Medal. At the time of his graduation in 1910 he was also president of his class. One of the lasting contributions made by this class was the “Sifting and winnowing” academic freedom placque now on South Hall. Although the Board of Regents originally opposed the class memorial, Duffy was instrumental in its installation in 1915.
Duffy attended the University of Wisconsin law school, graduating in 1912. He then practiced law with his father in Fond du Lac in the firm Duffy & Duffy. In 1917 Duffy volunteered for service in the army. Commissioned as a captain, he was stationed at Fort Brown on the Mexican border. There he was in charge of Regular Army Truck Co. # 20. Duffy then served fourteen months in France in the AEF in the Motor Transport Corps. He was discharged with the rank of major after 25 months in the service.
After the war Duffy again practiced law in partnership with his father and John P. McGalloway in Fond du Lac in the firm Duffy & McGalloway. In 1922, Duffy and his father joined Russell E. Hanson in a partnership first known as Duffy & Duffy and later as Duffy, Duffy, & Hanson.
In 1922 Duffy also was elected commander of the Wisconsin Department of the American Legion; from 1923 through 1924 he served as national vice commander. During the years 1922-1924 he was also a member of the National Executive Committee of the American Legion.
Through his work in the American Legion, Duffy gradually became interested and involved in national politics. In 1932 he ran for the U.S. Senate and was swept into office by the Democratic landslide, defeating Republican John B. Chapple. Ideologically affiliated with the national Democratic administration Duffy was often in disagreement with the more conservative Democrats who dominated his party in Wisconsin. His position in Wisconsin became even more difficult when the liberal Progressives with whom he had much in common swept to power in the state in 1934.
In the Senate Duffy served on the Foreign Relations, Military Affairs, Appropriations, Patents, Interoceanic Canals, and Privileges and Elections committees. As a result of his work on the Patents Committee, Duffy sponsored copyright legislation which succeeded in passing the Senate, but which died in the House. Duffy was also responsible for the attempt to involve the United States in the International Copyright Union. In 1935, he was a member of the official good will party to the Far East. He also was a member of the Board of Visitors of the United States Military Academy at West Point. In 1937 Duffy was chosen as one of three World War I veterans in the Senate to dedicate American battle monuments in Europe. In this connection he made the dedicatory address at the American chapel in Flanders Field, Belgium.
Duffy ran again for the Senate in 1938, but was defeated in a three-way battle between Republican Alexander Wiley and Progressive Herman Ekern. For a short time after his defeat, Duffy resumed his law practice with Russell Hanson in Fond du Lac. In June 1939, however, President Roosevelt appointed him United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Wisconsin to succeed Judge Ferdinand A. Geiger. While judge, Duffy served on the Bankruptcy and Judicial Retirement and Tenure committees of the Judicial Conference of the United States. Ten years later after the death of Judge Evan A. Evans, President Truman appointed Duffy judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Between 1954 and 1959, Duffy acted as chief judge of the court. In 1966, he took on the semi-retired status of Senior Circuit Judge. Duffy retired from the court in 1978.
One of Duffy's long-term interests was the Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee. He was elected to its board of directors in 1946 and served as president in 1960. Other hobbies included golf, hunting, and fishing. Duffy married Louise Haydon of Springfield, Kentucky, in 1918. They were the parents of four children - Ann, Haydon, James, and F. Ryan Jr.
F. Ryan Duffy died on August 16, 1979 at the age of 91.
