St. John Fisher University Athletics

Former St. John Fisher College President Dr. Katherine Keough was instrumental in the success of St. John Fisher College and its athletic programs.

Dr. Keough’s efforts helped paved the way for the Buffalo Bills to move their training camp to St. John Fisher, where they have been since 2000.

During her tenure, the College also built Growney Stadium, Dugan Yard and a nearly 20,000-square foot addition onto the Student Life Center, while adding men’s and women’s lacrosse as NCAA Division III programs.

Dr. Keough’s contributions, however, went well beyond athletics.

Her leadership style was a unique combination of risk-taking, empowerment, and rapid change. She brought to the higher educational environment a business orientation and a sense of accountability. Her revitalization of the academic offerings at both the graduate and undergraduate levels accelerated the academic excellence and national ranking of this College. In each year of her presidency, Dr. Keough’s vision and action-oriented leadership led to steady improvement in every key financial and statistical metric that the College uses to measure its success.

Dr. Keough, who became Fisher’s first female President in 1996, was the recipient of numerous civic leadership awards, most notably the prestigious ATHENA Award from the Women’s Council of the Rochester Business Alliance. She was honored as the Town of Pittsford 2003 Citizen of the Year Award and has been credited with creating the Service Scholars Program, which received the President’s Community Volunteer Award – the highest national honor for volunteering.

She was a long-standing member of the Board of Directors of The Special Operations Warrior Foundation, which provides grants to children of US Special Operations forces killed in the line of duty.

Dr. Keough passed away in September of 2004 from complications with her battle with bone cancer.