Gene Beaupré, chief of staff to three Cincinnati mayors including Jerry Springer, and a professor and leader at Xavier University for four decades died Friday, multiple friends said.
He was 75.
"Gene was a really quiet and humble guy, yet he knew all the players, and all the players knew him," said Steve Driehaus, a friend, colleague and former U.S. Congressman for Ohio.
On election night, television stations turned to Beaupré for analysis, Driehaus said.
Students of Beaupré can be found in top positions around the city and U.S., said Sean Comer, government relations director for Xavier and family friend.
His former students include the director of digital strategy for President Barack Obama's campaign, Senator Rob Portman's state director, and the chief operating officer of the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce, Comer said.
"I think something he did for all his students, is he gave them the belief they could make a difference and the tools to make a difference," Comer said.
After graduating with a bachelor's in 1969, the Washington-D.C. native Beaupré stayed in the Queen City where was a founding member of the "Xavier Mafia" around Cincinnati City Hall according to an online Xavier tribute to him when he retired in 2018. Beaupré taught students in the philosophy, politics and public honors program.
The first director of the honors program, Paul Colella, called it "Gene's Program" in the 2018 Xavier tribute.
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