Dr. William E. "Bill" Dufford

Dr. William E. “Bill” Dufford, a distinguished South Carolina educator, education administrator, civil rights leader, author, and World War II veteran, passed away peacefully on September 30, 2026.  As a teacher, coach, principal, and superintendent whose career in public education spanned more than four decades—and as a lifelong mentor—Dr. Dufford became a courageous advocate for equal and equitable access for all to the transformative power of learning.

Born in Newberry, South Carolina, he was the son of Cornelius Adolphus “Neal” Dufford and Alma Cole Dufford. He was predeceased by his parents, his brother Dr. C. A. Dufford Jr. (b. 1921), and his sisters Virginia Dufford (b. 1923) and Doris Dufford (b. 1925). In 1995, the Dufford siblings donated their family home on College Street to Newberry College for use as its alumni center. This year the Dufford family was recognized by Newberry College with Distinguished Membership into the John Bachman Founders Society, the first family ever to be honored with this prestigious award.

During World War II, Dr. Dufford served in the United States Navy as a radar crew member aboard the USS Los Angeles in the Pacific Theater from 1944 to 1945. Returning from the war and aided by the G. I. Bill, he graduated from Newberry College in 1949. Indicative of his commitment to higher education, he later earned his doctorate in education and curriculum from the University of Florida in 1967, near the midpoint of his professional life.

He began his career in education at Winyah High School in Georgetown, where he taught mathematics and physics and served as a coach before helping establish Winyah Junior High School and becoming its principal. He later served as a high school principal in Georgetown, Beaufort, and Sumter, and as superintendent of schools in York. He also worked as an educational consultant to the Boston school system, directed field services for the University of South Carolina Center for Integrated Education, and served as co-chair of South Carolina Governor Richard W. Riley’s Task Force on Southern Children. He concluded his inspiring career by returning to the classroom, with ten years of teaching mathematics at Eau Claire and Lower Richland high schools in Columbia.

His defining public service came during the integration of South Carolina’s schools, with an inclusive approach that honored the perspectives of students, colleagues, and the community. In Sumter in 1969, he guided the unification of the formerly segregated Lincoln and Edmunds high schools, insisting that genuine integration required more than placing students in the same building. Through practical, student-centered measures, he worked to create a shared school community founded on dignity, fairness, and mutual respect. His efforts drew national attention—including coverage in the New York Times and an opportunity to bring a delegation of his students to Alabama to exemplify for educators there what successful integration measures could achieve.

When interviewed for the University of South Carolina Museum of Education exhibit “1963–2013: Desegregation-Integration Reflections,” Dr. Dufford offered this advice to teachers based on his forty years of experiences: “If you wish to become a teacher, then you really must be a compassionate person who truly likes people. And you must know that if you take the right and courageous stand, there may be some uneasy moments from time to time. But if you are standing for the right issues and doing the right thing, there will always be a place for you as a teacher. You may not be able to change the world, but you will have an impact on those with whom you come into contact.”

Dr. Dufford was honored with a South Carolina Governor’s Award in the Humanities in 2014 and, in 2015, with the South Carolina Order of the Palmetto, the state’s highest civilian honor. In both ceremonies, he was introduced by his former Beaufort High School student, author, and fellow educator Pat Conroy. Dufford’s memoir, My Tour Through the Asylum: A Southern Integrationist’s Memoir, was published by the University of South Carolina Press in 2017 and was recognized with an Independent Publishers Book Award for Memoir the following year.

Dufford continued his longtime relationship with his alma mater in a multitude of empowering ways, including the establishment of Newberry College’s annual Dufford Diversity and Inclusion Week, the William Dufford Retired Educator Award, and the Dufford Diversity Lab at the College’s Center for Teacher Education, located in the former Spears Street Elementary School, which Dufford attended as a student. His efforts also led to the Newberry Opera House’s Dufford Center for Cultural Diversity. His numerous collaborations with Newberry College and the Opera House continue to carry forward his commitment to fostering understanding, inclusion, and educational opportunities for young people as an investment in the future.

In 2022, Newberry College’s Teacher Education Department inducted Dr. Dufford into its Hall of Master Teachers, recognizing him for exemplary dedication and service in the field of education and presenting him with his namesake prize, the William Dufford Retired Educator Award.

In his retirement, Dufford continued to be an active and passionate participant in the multitude of educational programs which bear his name, in addition to entertaining and educating visitors in his Columbia home—including fellow educators and former students, their students, and their students’ students.

Lovingly remembered by generations of his students, educators, and colleagues, Dr. Dufford changed thousands of lives immeasurably for the better and leaves a lasting legacy of courageous compassion and stalwart faith in the transformative powers of education, inclusion, multiculturalism, and social justice.

In his memoir, Dr. Dufford offered this characteristically grateful and humble summation of his life: “I couldn’t have been more fortunate. Many people were there to help me along the way. They were kind and they were generous. I guess I started working with kids in 1949 … and I’m still working with them. They keep me young. They think I helped them, and in fact they helped me…. None of my life was planned. I was just always asked to do this or that. Things just fell into my lap. There was never any formalized plan, just forward progress.”

Memorial contributions may be made to: The 1955 YMCA Cannon Street Allstar Little League Baseball Meditation & Memorial Garden, Charleston, S.C. or  The Muller Center/ Dufford Speaker Series, 2100 College Street, Newberry College, Newberry. S.C. 29108

Service times will be shared here as soon as they are confirmed.

Memories and messages may be shared at whitakerfuneralhome.com.