McHugh, Keith S. (Keith Stratton), 1895-1975

Keith McHugh (1895-1975?) was an American business executive, president of New York Telephone Company, vice-president of American Telephone and Telegraph, and New York State Commissioner of Commerce.

Born in Fort Collins, Colorado on February 22, 1895. After attending public schools in Fort Collins, he attended the University of Wisconsin and received a B.S. degree in chemical engineering from that institution in 1917. He served as a captain in World War I and in 1919 began his business career with the American Telephone and Telegraph Company in New York City. McHugh started as a clerk and rose to a vice-presidency in 1938. He was elected president of the New York Telephone Company in 1949, a position he held until 1959 when he resigned to accept the post of New York State Commissioner of Commerce. During his tenure he focused on attracting businesses to New York and improving the state's economy; his innovations included opening branch offices in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Montreal, establishing a New York State headquarters in the Common Market in Brussels, opening a New York office in Tokyo to expand market opportunities in Asia, and placing "Where to Buy" ads for New York products in six European newspapers, yielding more than 4000 responses.

An active participant in civic and community organizations, McHugh was appointed to more than 50 commissions, boards, and special committees including a post-Vietnam economic and social planning committee, trustee of Cornell University and of the Carnegie Institution, and a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (1938-1939). In addition to many other recognitiongs and awards, he received honorary degrees from five institutions -- Syracuse University (1955), Manhattan College (1955), University of Wisconsin (1957), St. Bernardine of Sieva College (1960), and the Polytechnic Institute of Berlin (1961).

From the guide to the Keith McHugh Papers, 1959-1966, (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)