Remembering Jack Connors
July 29, 2024
Dear Faculty and Staff,
Last week, the Boston area lost a giant in the worlds of philanthropy, civic engagement, health care, and advertising. Among his many leadership roles, Jack M. Connors Jr. served as a member of Brandeis’ Board of Trustees for more than a decade, including several years as Vice Chair, and remained a Trustee Emeritus until passing at his home in Brookline at 82.
Mr. Connors made his name building Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos Inc., the national marketing and advertising firm which he and three friends launched on a shoestring in 1968. In the decades to follow, he would tirelessly translate his business success into serving the community. He was known for his work joining Massachusetts General and Brigham and Womens’ hospitals and physicians to establish the Partners HealthCare system, for lending his expertise and financial support to numerous nonprofit organizations, and for serving as a convener and connector for those working for the greater good. A descendent of Irish immigrants, Mr. Connors’ significant philanthropy often focused on the neediest Bostonians. In an interview last December with Boston Magazine, he said that Boston could be a better place, “If the rich people cared about the poor people.”
Mr. Connors' service on the Board of Trustees at Brandeis helped tie our university more closely to important people and organizations in Boston. A devout Catholic who was an ardent supporter of his own alma mater, Boston College, he did Brandeis a great service by connecting this Jewish-founded institution to a broader local constituency. Mr. Connors embodied the Jewish value of repairing the world. May his memory be for a blessing.
Sincerely,
Ron Liebowitz
Services for Mr. Connors
Saint Ignatius of Loyola Church, at 28 Commonwealth Avenue in Chestnut Hill, will hold visiting hours from 3 to 8 p.m. on July 29. The funeral mass will be on July 30 starting at 10 a.m. His funeral will be live streamed.