John Delaney (Florida politician)


John Adrian Delaney is an American lawyer, politician, and former university administrator. He served as mayor of Jacksonville, Florida from 1995 to 2003, and as the president of the University of North Florida from 2003 to 2018. He is a member of the Republican Party.

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 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 1888. He was succeeded by John Peyton in July 2003.
During his mayoral term, Delaney was noted for launching the Better Jacksonville Plan, a massive, billion-dollar 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.

University of North Florida

Delaney was appointed President of the University of North Florida in 2003. During his tenure the university has seen a surge of building projects, including a new Student Union and other facilities. Under his leadership, the university launched an initiative to identify and strengthen its top "flagship" programs. Since 2005, six programs have been established as flagships: Nursing, Transportation and Logistics, International Business, Coastal Biology, Nutrition and Dietetics, and Music.
He retired from UNF in May 2018. The university's student union facility was renamed the John A. Delaney Student Union in his honor.

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.