John V. Lombardi

John Vincent Paul Maher Lombardi (born August 19, 1942) is an American professor and former university administrator. He is a native of California, and earned his bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees before becoming a professor of Latin American history. Lombardi has served as the president of the University of Florida, the chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and the president of the Louisiana State University System.

Early life and education

Lombardi was born into a family of educators in Los Angeles, California in 1942. His father was the president of Los Angeles City College, a California community college, and superintendent of the Los Angeles Community College District. His mother worked as a college librarian. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Pomona College in Claremont, California in 1963, and his Master of Arts and doctor of philosophy degrees from Columbia University in New York City in 1964 and 1968, respectively. He also attended the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México in Mexico City, where he learned Spanish while living with a Mexican family, as an undergraduate, and the University of California, Los Angeles for graduate school. While he was a graduate student, Lombardi spent several years living and researching in Venezuela as a Fulbright Scholar.