In Memory: Jeff Killeen

Dear Laurentian community,

I write today with the sad news that Jeff Killeen ’75 has died. St. Lawrence, the North Country, our environment, and the compassionate entrepreneurialism that he modeled have all lost a champion and a great friend.

Jeff became a member of the St. Lawrence Board of Trustees in 2019 and was slated to become vice chair next year.

His professional career is a 40-year demonstration of Laurentian Impact. In information services, media, and internet companies, he held titles ranging from CEO, board chair, board member, and corporate operating executive. Most recently, he was chairman and CEO of GlobalSpec, the leading digital-content provider to the global design engineering community. Jeff also served on three public- and numerous private-company boards and was board chair for several major nonprofit organizations.

He had been chair of the Center for Disability Services, Chairman of Life Quality Solutions Incubator, and board chair for the Lake George Association. He was also a Partner in the Jefferson Project, which focuses on applying best-in-class science and technology to guide the protection of freshwater resources in New York State, nationally, and globally.

“He brought excellence to everything he did,” remembers Trustee Marion Roach Smith '77, who has counted Jeff as a friend for 50 years, since the day he hired her to be a disc jockey at the campus radio station KSLU. “It was my great honor to ask him to join the Board, and I am so grateful for his dedicated, helpful, clear vision and his shared love for our beloved alma mater.”

As a St. Lawrence alum, he served as a career advisor to students and Reunion planning chair as well as a North Country Public Radio Executive Council member. Jeff was an instrumental member of the recent Experience St. Lawrence Task Force lending his considerable strategic planning expertise. With his generous support of the St. Lawrence Fund and Laurentians Investing in Networking and Careers, he was also a dedicated donor to the University.

Jeff is survived by his wife, Judy, and their son, Peter.

In our grief over the loss of our friend and colleague, we remain grateful to Jeff for his service to our community and to the world. Those who knew him recall Jeff’s commitment to humanity, to bringing out the gifts unique to each individual, and his unswerving belief that working together was the most important step toward building a better future for everyone. It is a distinctly Laurentian honor to remember him and to make sure that future generations know his name, and the meaningful ideas that fueled his work.

Please join us in celebrating Jeff’s life by sharing your memories of him on the St. Lawrence University website. You can read the remembrances of others here.

Sincerely,

Kate Morris