Former Sennheiser sales executive Jeff Alexander died on Dec. 17, 2018. An engaging friend to many in the pro audio industry, Alexander brought an engineer’s deep understanding of technology and the artistic insight of a musician to his role. He was 56.
Originally from Bellaire, TX, Alexander attended Texas A&M, where he received a Bachelor’s degree in Petroleum Engineering, paving the way for a job in the late 1990s at General Dynamics in Groton, CT, where he was the lead engineer for engine room fluid systems in the Seawolf Class attack submarine.
It was during this time that on a whim, he answered a ‘musicians wanted’ flyer that had been posted at Caruso Music in New London, CT and became friends and bandmates with Joe Ciaudelli, then-director of marketing at Sennheiser. That friendship led to Alexander being hired as the product manager for Neumann USA. Succeeding in the position, he moved up to a national sales manager role and eventually into a directorship position in charge of sales and marketing for third-party, non-Sennheiser brands such as Turbosound, Innovason, HHB, DAS, True System, K-array, Chevin Research and Australian Monitor. From there, he became VP sales and marketing for Sennheiser’s Professional Products Division.
However, Alexander’s life changed drastically on August 25, 2012 when he was in an accident while riding his motor scooter on Route 1 in Westbrook, CT. Colliding with a vehicle that had unexpectedly pulled out into traffic, Alexander was thrown 75 feet, wrecking his left leg and right hand. Wearing a helmet, he avoided brain injuries but nonetheless sustained a severe hearing loss in his right ear. The accident resulted in a nine-month hospitalization; Alexander underwent 27 surgeries over the next three years and eventually his left leg was amputated in 2015. A pillar of the industry during his time at Sennheiser, he will be missed.
