Daniel Woolf

Early life and education Woolf was born in London, England, on 5 December 1958 to a Jewish family. His mother, Margaret Mary Woolf (1929–2014), was an English instructor at a university, and his brother was the Vancouver-based architect Jeremy Woolf (1963–2026).

In 1961, his family emigrated to Winnipeg, Canada, University of Oxford, in 1983. He was supervised by Gerald E. Aylmer, a distinguished historian of 17th-century England and then-Master of St Peter's. Along with historians John Morrill and Paul Slack, Woolf would eventually co-edit a 1993 festschrift honouring Aylmer. Among Woolf's contemporaries at St Peter's was David Eastwood, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Birmingham since 2009. He took up the role on 1 September that year, He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Society of Antiquaries of London, and the Royal Historical Society.

Since 2012, Woolf has been on the board of directors of Historica Canada (formerly the Historica-Dominion Institute). Having completed one term on the board of directors of the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario, he is currently serving his second term (2021–2023). He is a member of the board of directors of Lakefield College School since 2020. He is also a member of the International Commission for the History and Theory of Historiography (ICHTH), currently serving as its Secretary-General (2022–2026).

Previously, he was the chair of the Council of Ontario Universities (2017–2019), a member of the board of directors of the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (2016–2017), a member of the Executive Committee and Council of the Royal Society of Canada (2012–2016), (2011–2014).

Personal life Woolf is married to Julie Anne Gordon-Woolf, He has three children from a previous marriage to political scientist Jane Arscott, Sarah, Samuel and David.

During his tenure as principal, Woolf was famous for handing out cookies with his wife at Queen's University's libraries during exam season.

Honours and awards Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (1990) John Ben Snow Prize (2004) Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London of the Society of Antiquaries of London (2005) Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (2006)

In 2023, to honour Woolf's decade of service as Principal and Vice-Chancellor, Queen's University established the Principal Emeritus Daniel R. Woolf Professorship in the Humanities; and renamed the first floor of Stauffer Library as the Daniel R. Woolf Gallery.

In 2024, a Festschrift, titled Reckoning with History, was published in Woolf's honour, in which 11 contributors engaged with his writings and ideas.