Multitalented Alumnus Serves as Mentor to a Generation of WRED-TV Students

For more than 30 years, Mr. Sheehan has worked in the film and television industry for all the major networks in many roles, including camera operator, director, editor, postproduction supervisor, and producer. He has never forgotten his time at St. John’s and all the people who shepherded his career and has spent his life paying their kindness forward. 

The untimely death of Mr. Sheehan’s mother when he was five years old imprinted some lasting lessons on him. “Don’t take life so seriously, enjoy whatever is given to you, and there is no excuse not to better yourself,” he recalled.

A native of Babylon, NY, Mr. Sheehan first stepped foot on the Queens, NY, campus of St. John’s University on a rainy evening in 1972. His cousin was the first in the family to attend college and was at St. John’s then. Mr. Sheehan’s father worked as an Officer in the Department of Public Safety. Entranced by all that he saw, “I said to my Dad, ‘I want to go here,’” Mr. Sheehan recalled. From that moment on, he was fascinated by St. John’s—but his journey to the University followed a circuitous path.

While his two brothers earned degrees at St. John’s, Mr. Sheehan initially opted not to attend college and worked as a truck loader after high school. “I was making great money, but one day at lunch, I asked all the guys how long they had worked there.” Everyone in the room was there for several decades; at that moment, Mr. Sheehan felt a change was in order.

He applied to St. John’s, but his grades weren’t up to par, and he was rejected. However, Mr. Sheehan was conditionally accepted as part of a program that required him to enroll in a year of precollege coursework. 

“You had to maintain a B average, have perfect attendance, and really bear down,” he recalled. “From that moment on, I was off to the races. The rest is history.”

Mr. Sheehan’s father passed away during his early years at St. John’s; before he died, he made his son promise to graduate. “At that moment, everything changed. It was like a new slate. I remember coming through the main gate and telling myself I would have a real college experience. I came out of my shell. I became personable.”

Shortly after, Mr. Sheehan, who needed a job, visited the recently upgraded television center, which now housed some of the most state-of-the-art equipment of any college campus of its day. At first, there were no openings for new student workers, but Mr. Sheehan appealed directly to Patricia Ruggieri, former center director, and she created a position for him. 

“She changed my life,” he recalled. “The center was brand-spanking new. In my heart and spirit, I just took advantage of it. I made new friends, many of whom are still part of my life today.” 

From that moment on, Mr. Sheehan learned every nuance of each piece of equipment housed in the television center and became its resident jack-of-all-trades.

“The turning point for my career was during senior year when Fujifilm sponsored a video competition for students,” he recalled. Mr. Sheehan produced a lip-synched music video. “Kids were teasing me when I was editing it, but I won.” 

Not only did he take home a $500 prize, but his work so impressed the administration he was offered a full-time engineering position at the center upon graduation. As a full-time employee, Mr. Sheehan made it his mission to assist students whenever his schedule allowed, often including late nights and weekends. 

“We had this beautiful facility with top-tier equipment but limited time for the students to work on their projects,” he stressed. “Any student that asked me for help, I tried to help.”

Steven Laux ’94SVC and Brian Drew ’95SVC, both award-winning television industry professionals, recalled Mr. Sheehan’s profound influence. He was the first person Mr. Laux encountered on his first day at the television center. 

“Mike gave tirelessly of himself to any student who asked for his assistance,” he said. “While there are many qualities he possesses, like boundless creativity, a wicked sense of humor, and a love for his Irish heritage, one thing that has always amazed me is how Mike makes those in his presence feel accepted and fortunate to be in his orbit.”

“Most of us wouldn’t be where we are now without him,” Mr. Drew stressed. “Mike’s generosity of spirit, as a friend as well as a mentor, is one of the big reasons so many of the people whose lives he touched have gone on to have great careers. I cannot imagine what my college and professional life would have been like without him.”

In 1995, Mr. Sheehan left St. John’s (he would later return as an Adjunct Professor in the Division of Mass Communication a few years later), and pursued outside opportunities. That began an almost three-decade odyssey that has seen him work full time and freelance for CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox News, HBO, PBS, and CNBC, among others. His credits on numerous news and entertainment segments and projects are legion.

Mr. Sheehan has traveled to the North Pole and all around the globe, producing, directing, and editing segments with and about luminaries from the worlds of politics, science, and entertainment, and possesses an equal facility for dramatic and humorous subject matter. He won an Emmy® Award in 2007 for a segment airing on CNBC’s Business Nation, “Prescriptions and Payoffs.”

Mr. Sheehan maintains a warm relationship with St. John’s to this day. Last month, he was a panelist during the first Television and Film Alumni Panel cosponsored by The Lesley H. and William L. Collins College of Professional Studies and the Society for Film and Visual Arts. He is a member of the WRED-TV Hall of Fame and frequently attends alumni events. He hopes to one day take a more active role in the life of the program that gave him so much.

“I enjoyed every moment of my time at St. John’s,” he said. “It’s a special place. It’s rare for members of an organization to be this close still. The TV center was my Treasure Island.”

View Photos of Michael Sheehan ’87SVC