Insurance Leader Maurice R. Greenberg Featured as SRM’s William J. Parkinson Distinguished Lecturer

October 08, 2009

The William J. Parkinson Distinguished Lecture Series, hosted by the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Library of the School of Risk Management, Insurance and Actuarial Science at St. John’s University, featured Maurice R. (Hank) Greenberg, Chairman and CEO of C.V. Starr and Company, as its guest speaker on October 7, 2009. 

Dr. Ellen Thrower, Executive Director of the School of Risk Management, Insurance and Actuarial Science (SRM), welcomed the standing-room only crowd of business leaders, St. John’s students, faculty and administrators to the Saval Auditorium on the University’s Manhattan campus, and Brandon W. Sweitzer, Chairman of the School of Risk Management's Board of Overseers, provided the introduction for Mr. Greenberg, who is widely considered one of the most respected and influential businessmen in the insurance industry.

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Robert P. Hartwig, Ph.D., CPCU, President of the Insurance Information Institute, moderated the question and answer session following Mr. Greenberg’s speech on “Risk Management in the 21st Century.”  

Mr. Greenberg has been Chairman and CEO of C.V. Starr and Company since 2005.  He retired as Chairman and CEO of American International Group, Inc. (AIG) in March 2005 after over 40 years of leadership that created the largest insurance company in history, and generated unprecedented value for shareholders.  Under his leadership, AIG’s market value grew from $300 million to $180 billion.  At AIG, Mr. Greenberg pioneered the global trade in services that opened markets for the insurance industry around the world.

The William J. Parkinson Distinguished Lecture Fund was established at the College of Insurance on December 17, 1987 in memory and recognition of William J. Parkinson and his contributions to Johnson & Higgins and the insurance and risk management industry.

The lecture series has had its share of prestigious guest speakers that have included Kerry Emmanuel (MIT professor and Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2006), Madeleine Albright (former 64th U.S. Secretary of State to President Bill Clinton) and Dr. Stephen E. Flynn, top authority on national security. 

For more information, please contact Maureen Furlong-Weber at (212) 277-5111, or weberm@stjohns.edu.  For media inquiries, please contact Elizabeth Reilly, Assistant Director of Media Relations at St. John’s University, at (718) 990-5789, or by e-mail to reillye@stjohns.edu