J. Victor Skiff (July 23, 1908 – September 15, 1964) was a prominent New York State conservationist and career public servant.

John M. Skiff was the editor of the Gainesville Press, and died of pneumonia following Spanish influenza, in 1918, orphaning Victor at the age of 10.

As an adult, at a talk presented to Scouters of the Adirondack Council, he shared that "his boyhood experience in a Scout Troop in Ithaca had developed his interest in the out-or-doors and led to his work in conservation.

For high school, he attended the world-renowned Starkey Seminary (later renamed Lakemont Academy for Boys[2]), located on Seneca Lake near Watkins Glen, NY, graduating in 1925.

In his junior and senior year of college, he qualified for the finals of the 19th and 20th Annual Eastman Stage Contest, respectively, a public speaking contest held in connection with the annual Farm and Home week of the Agricultural College, speaking on the subject "Will History Repeat?"

[10] In 1954, when Democrat W. Averell Harriman was elected as governor, Skiff resigned and served as a GOP legislative consultant.

[11] In 1959, when Republican Nelson Rockefeller took office as governor, Victor was reappointed as Deputy Commissioner, a position he served in until his untimely death in 1964.