Writings & Remarks

In Memoriam: Marty Sweeney

October 15, 2024

Dear Members of the Hamilton Community,

I write with the terribly sad news that one of Hamilton’s most treasured and respected employees died overnight.

Marty Sweeney joined Hamilton’s Information and Technology Services in 2003 as director of enterprise information systems. He quickly made a name for himself as someone who was smart, collaborative, and able to explain technology in lay terms so that everyone involved understood the best way to move
technology projects forward.

We all benefited enormously from the work Marty did behind the scenes to ensure that the information we needed to do our work – whether as faculty, staff, or students – was accurate, reliable, and always accessible. He made our jobs easier, and he took great pride in contributing to the College’s smooth operation. He was a leader in developing and maintaining the information technology infrastructure that serves as the foundation for much of what we do every day on campus.

Only four years after his arrival, Marty was selected to receive a Tobin Award. His nominators described him as “one of Hamilton College’s jewels,” who possessed “a special blend of institutional acumen, technical expertise and strong values. … Anyone who has worked closely with Marty and knows Marty,” they added, “trusts Marty.” And despite the universal acclaim for Marty personally and professionally, he remained humble and unassuming. His Tobin Award nominators said “He is a team player to the core; it’s never about him and always about what’s best for Hamilton.”

Marty took special satisfaction serving as a member of the Student Emergency Aid Society Advisory Board. “Being part of SEAS has helped me see students’ different backgrounds and starting points and hear the stories that help me understand what some students are up against,” he said a year ago. “We’re able to help a lot of students through SEAS.”

As we take a short pause from the rigors of the semester, please take a moment to remember Marty and his family. On behalf of Marty’s many friends on campus, I extend Hamilton’s gratitude for his service and our deepest sympathy to his family. Additional information about services and how to contact Marty’s family to express condolences will be shared soon.

I’ll conclude by once again quoting from the nomination for his Tobin Award: “Because of Marty, Hamilton is a stronger, better, smarter, more productive and more optimistic place.”

Steven