Completing his work on the board
Frank T. Keefe
T
he Milton Academy board of trustees salutes Frank T. Keefe, who has concluded, this year, his long and outstanding service to the board and to the School. Frank was elected to the board in 1985, when Jerry Pieh was the headmaster, and he then served with Headmaster Ed Fredie and Head of School Robin Robertson. While Frank has applied his keen intellect and diverse skills to many Milton projects over these 16 years, his most significant contribution to Milton’s extraordinary strength today may be his stewardship of Milton’s financial position.
Bill Porter
Frank Keefe
When Frank served as Massachusetts’ Governor Michael Dukakis’s secretary for administration and finance, Boston Globe writer Bruce Mohl called him “the brash budget czar of the Dukakis administration.” While his colleagues on the board at Milton might argue with the word “brash,” they would unanimously acclaim Frank’s leadership in planning and budget management. “Frank understands organizations and organizational process,” said board President Marshall Schwarz, “and his experience and counsel served the board magnificently as we adapted to this period of great growth for Milton. He enabled the board to have confidence in the numbers and analyses, and in projections necessary for planning. Milton’s sound financial status today is a result, to a great extent, of Frank’s work and leadership.” Having completed a 12-year term, as well as a tenure as chair of the Budget Committee, Frank agreed in 1997 to stay on the board as an officer, and was elected vice president.
forthrightness, and analytical ability. Frank always offered a welcome, hands-on willingness to do whatever needed to be done. Frank’s natural wit, applied especially to his own succinct summaries, helped make complex issues accessible. His attention to the financial implications of decisions considered by the board was as valuable as it was reliable. A public planner and urban real estate developer, Frank was a crucial member of the board’s Buildings and Grounds Committee. During the short but intense building period (1997 through 1998) when the Athletic and Convocation Center was built, Frank devoted long hours on the project team. The success of that building, at the center of campus life at Milton today, is due in large part to Frank’s active engagement with the effort, working closely with other trustees to maximize the value of the building to the School. Frank’s firm, The Keefe Company, based in Boston, is focused on private sector urban development, adaptive reuse, and new development approaches and techniques. His three children, Patrick, Beatrice and Tristram, attended Milton Academy. We thank Frank for his years of devoted and generous service to Milton Academy, and gratefully acknowledge his prominent role in helping shape the strong School that thrives today.
Frank was also involved in many other aspects of the board’s work. His participation on the Lower School, Investment, Student Life, and Development Committees, was marked with a dependable insight,
49 Milton Magazine