St. Lawrence University Athletics

A member of the “Sports Illustrated Silver Anniversary All America Team”, Ben Blackford was a standout in track and football and played two years of intercollegiate basketball while a St. Lawrence undergraduate.

A 205-pound end on the football team, he went up against teams such as Colgate, Cornell and Syracuse at a time in which players were rarely substituted for. During his playing career, St. Lawrence teams compiled a record of 19-9-1, capped by a 6-2 season his senior year. He caught the winning touchdown pass in a 6-0 win over RPI as a junior and the tying touchdown pass against Clarkson in a 4-2-1 season. He was cited for his outstanding defensive play in a 14-0 loss at Cornell as a senior as well as in a 6-0 upset of Niagra.

He served four years in the U.S. Navy where he commanded two escort-vessels and then was officer-in-charge of personnel for the Anti-Submarine Service. He earned his LLB degree at Brooklyn Law School in 1938 and his JSD in 1940. He had an extensive career in banking, retiring as Chief Executive Officer of the Greenwhich Trust Company in 1974. A former St. Lawrence Trustee, he has served a number of businesses and organizations on their boards of directors including the Boys Clubs of America and has served on the Advisory Committee to the Comptroller of the Currency.