William F. Connell (1938–2001) was an American industrialist and philanthropist who served as chairman and chief executive officer of Connell Limited Partnership.

Early life

Connell was born in Lynn, Massachusetts to William and Theresa Connell, both immigrants from Ireland. He graduated from St. Mary's High School,

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

( BA 1959), and

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

( MBA 1963) and served in the United States Army.

Business career

Connell worked for Litton Industries before joining Ogden Corporation as assistant treasurer. At Ogden he rose to the position of executive vice president. In 1985 Ogden sold seven of its industrial companies to its employees and Connell became the chief executive officer and chairman of the newly formed

Avondale Industries Avondale Shipyard was an independent shipbuilding company, acquired by Litton Industries, in turn acquired by Northrop Grumman Corporation. In 2011, along with the former Ingalls Shipbuilding, the yard was part of Huntington Ingalls Industries. It ...

. In September 1986, the president of Avondale's shipyard division attempted to oust Connell, which led to a legal battle between the two sides. The dispute ended in January 1987 when Connell purchased Avondale's six other divisions to form Connell Limited Partnership. Connell was a director of the Bank of Boston, General Cinema Corporation,

Suffolk Downs Suffolk Downs is a former Thoroughbred race track in East Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The track opened in 1935 after being built by Joseph A. Tomasello for a cost of $2 million. It was sold in May 2017 to a developer who plans to crea ...

, Boston Edison Company, Arthur D. Little, FleetBoston Financial, Harcourt General, and the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, a trustee of

and the

Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, ...

, and a

Museum of Science The Museum of Science (MoS) is a science museum and indoor zoo in Boston, Massachusetts, located in Science Park, a plot of land spanning the Charles River. Along with over 700 interactive exhibits, the museum features a number of live prese ...

. Connell was influential in the merger of BankBoston and FleetBank and was a part of a group of Boston businessmen who brokered a deal that kept the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

from moving to Connecticut.

Philanthropy

Connell died of melanoma on August 22, 2001 at his home in

Swampscott, Massachusetts Swampscott () is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located up the coast from Boston in an area known as the North Shore. The population was 15,111 as of the 2020 United States Census. A former summer resort on Massachusetts Ba ...

. He was 63 years old. Shortly before his death he donated $10 million to Boston College's School of Nursing, which was renamed the William F. Connell School of Nursing in 2003. He also left $5 million to St. Mary's High School, who used the money to construct the William F. Connell Center, which houses a chapel, classrooms, and a technology center. In 2003, a donation from Connell's family helped launch the Harvard Business School's Leadership Initiative. That same year, HBS renamed its Fowler House the Connell House. In 2013, the Connell family donated $10 million to establish the Margot and William F. Connell Family MBA Program Innovation Fund at Harvard Business School.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Connell, William F. 1938 births 2001 deaths American chief executives of manufacturing companies Boston College alumni Harvard Business School alumni People from Lynn, Massachusetts People from Swampscott, Massachusetts Philanthropists from Massachusetts Suffolk Downs executives Deaths from melanoma in the United States