Clifford S. Griffin was a professor of American History at the University of Kansas from 1959 to 1996. His primary field was American intellectual history. Griffin received his B.A. from Brown University in 1952. He went on to receive his M.A. in 1953 and his Ph.D. in 1957, both from University of Wisconsin. From 1957 to 1959 Griffin was an instructor at Lake Forest College in Lake Forest, Illinois before coming to KU.

In addition to the standard survey course on American history, he taught courses and seminars on American cultural and intellectual history and the history of American radicalism and reform. He won a number of teaching awards while at KU.

Griffin was the author of three books: Their Brothers' Keepers: Moral Stewardship in the United States, 1800-1865, The Ferment of Reform, 1830-1860, and The University of Kansas: A History. The third book is the only scholarly and comprehensive history of KU during its first century. Their Brothers' Keepers was chosen for inclusion in the White House Library during the Kennedy administration. Griffin also wrote a number of articles and book reviews in scholarly journals.