John Hugh Garvey was born on the 28th of September, 1948, in Sharon, Pennsylvania.
He is married to Jeanne Walter Garvey and they have five children. He had studied in Harvard Law School, J.D. (1974); Harvard Divinity School, candidate for M.T.S. degree (1970-71); University of Notre Dame, A.B. (1970)
He has been the President of The Catholic University of America in July 2010, Dean of the Boston College Law School in 1999-2010, Professor at the Notre Dame Law School in 1994-99. he has also been the President of the Association of American Law Schools in 2008, Member of the board of governors of Caritas Christi, in 2008, Judicial nominating commission Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 2005-07; Supreme judicial court pro bono committee in 2002-05, Member of Task Force on Terrorism of the American Bar Association in 2001-02; reading committee in 1989-96.
He wrote books such as: Sexuality and the U.S. Catholic Church in 2007, Religion and the Constitution in 2006, What Are Freedoms For? in 1996, Modern Constitutional Theory in 2004, The First Amendment in 1996.