President Dennis M. Duggan, Jr., Esq. '70

In August 2012, Cardinal Sean Patrick O’Malley appointed Dennis M. Duggan, Jr., Esq. the 2nd President of Archbishop Williams High School. A 1970 AWHS graduate, Mr. Duggan was a member of the school’s chapter of the National Honor Society, a student council member, a class president, a Key Club member and president, and a varsity athlete. As a senior, his classmates voted him “Mr. AWHS.”

Mr. Duggan graduated from Boston College, magna cum laude, in 1974, and from Suffolk University Law School, cum laude, in 1978. He then served as a federal court law clerk before entering private law practice. His career spanned more than 30 years with the prestigious law firms Hale and Dorr (now WilmerHale) and Nixon Peabody, where he chaired the firm’s 300-lawyer Litigation Department and was a member of its Management Committee. 

Commitment to education and volunteerism have been constant themes with Mr. Duggan. He was a member of the Suffolk University’s Board of Trustees for 23 years, serving on its Buildings and Law School committees, and chairing its By-Laws and Development committees. He also chaired the University’s first Provost Search Committee and its Presidential Search Committee. 

Prior to his service on the University Board, Mr. Duggan served on the Law School Alumni Board, including three years as its President. He received the Law School’s “Alumni Service Award” in 1993.

Mr. Duggan has also been an active participant in his parish and town affairs. He served on the St. Mary of the Hills (Milton) School Committee for 15 years, and coached Milton youth basketball (boys and girls) for more than 20 years. He was also a was a volunteer assistant varsity basketball coach at Milton High for 15 years, a stretch during which the team qualified for the MIAA tournament each year, and won two state championships. He was inducted into the Milton High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2012. 

Mr. Duggan has also been an engaged AWHS alumnus. He was a member of the school’s Endowment Fund Steering Committee, and served on the school’s Board of Trustees for six years, chairing its Development and Governance Committees, and leading the school’s first Presidential Search Committee. He was inducted into the AWHS Academic Hall of Fame in 2011. 

Under Mr. Duggan’s leadership, working with the school’s Board of Trustees and its Administrative Leadership Team, AWHS has increased its enrollment, significantly strengthened its financial position, established a highly successful 7th and 8th Grade Program, grown its International Students Program, and invested millions of dollars into transformational campus improvements and facilities upgrades focused on enhancing our students’ total educational experience, and our faculty’s working conditions. 

In 2018, AWHS received a glowing 10-year re-accreditation report from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. 

Mr. Duggan feels blessed to have the opportunity to give back to the institution that had such a positive impact on his life. He sees his position not as a job, but as a mission to protect and continue the school’s proud legacy.