Professional Background
Fresh out of College, I entered the business world as a computer programmer trainee for the Home Insurance Company in NYC. Steady advancement within the highly technical world of Operating Systems Programming and project management led to my appointment as a Corporate Officer in 1980. I went on to serve The Home for 20 years before accepting a position as Vice President of Technical Services with Reliance National. In those 20 years I was personally involved in merger & acquisition transactions encompassing a Life Insurance Company in Michigan, a Savings Bank in New Jersey, and a Brokerage firm on Wall Street. There were few dull moments.
Entering a startup environment within the Reliance Group had many challenges, not the least of which required development of the entire business and support infrastructure. The operation grew from a $200M startup to a $2B specialty insurance giant within five years. Before seeking new challenges in 1996, when I established a consulting practice, I had the opportunity to develop a world class technology group. Together with colleagues in multidiscipline business units, we were able to provide the best technology solutions in support of specialty insurance operations in the US, Canada, Mexico, Central & South America, as well as Western Europe.
My subsequent years in technology consulting have been varied and rewarding. Corporate clients have ranged from the very specialized Fine Arts insurance market to the international trade group within NYNEX/Bell Atlantic. While consulting for a large Japanese insurance company in NYC, I was recruited for an assignment with another startup insurance company in Scottsdale.
Although I had never seriously considered working outside the NYC financial markets, the opportunity in Scottsdale was alluring. Northeast winters were starting to wear on us and we were looking for a more relaxed lifestyle; we earned it. The new company was a specialty insurance division within the Kemper enterprise. The company president decided that she wanted a full-time Technology Executive, and so in May of 2000, I was appointed as their Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer. Hotel living was not fun, but when my family relocated here at the end of July, we settled down and began to enjoy life in Arizona.
After almost 40 years in the financial services & technology industries, I have retired from active consulting and turned my attention toward volunteer efforts and community activism.