Plumeri Named W&M Commencement Speaker

By WYDaily Staff Wednesday, March 02, 2011

 

The College of William and Mary has invited Joseph J. Plumeri, chairman and CEO of the Willis Group, to be this year’s commencement speaker.

Plumeri, a 1966 William and Mary graduate, had led the Willis Group for the past decade and was named one of the world’s “100 Most Influential People in Finance” last year. He’ll receive an honorary doctorate degree at the graduation ceremony.

“Joe Plumeri has moved mountains in the world of international business,” said college President Taylor Reveley, “and he has been a great force for good in the not-for-profit world as well.

“By any measure, Joe is among William & Mary’s most faithful and generous alumni, and he is always a riveting speaker. We’re delighted whenever we can welcome Mr. Plumeri back to campus.”

Plumeri is a generous supporter of William and Mary. In 2008, he established the Plumeri Awards for Faculty Excellence. The awards, which include a $10,000 prize for each recipient, are given annually to 20 faculty members.

In addition, Plumeri annually supports the Tribe baseball team and in 1996 he provided funds to build the College’s baseball stadium, Plumeri Park. He has also endowed scholarships for student-athletes, provided support to Gateway William and Mary (need-based financial aid for Virginia families with the least financial resources) and contributed to the Mason School of Business.

He funded the renovation of a local residence for college visitors, which is now the Plumeri House, and he established the Plumeri William and Mary Pro-Am, a golf tournament that raised well over $2 million in financial support for the College’s Olympics sports programs.

Plumeri has served two terms on the college’s Board of Visitors and is a past member of the Alumni Association’s Board of Directors.

His impact in the business world is as extensive, as well. Under Plumeri’s leadership over the past 10 years, the Willis Group returned to public ownership and has solidified its role as one of the world’s leading insurance brokers.

In 2004, Willis became the first and only insurance broker to abolish the practice of accepting contingent commissions for retail clients and the first to establish a Client Bill of Rights. In recognition of his various efforts, St. John’s University School of Risk Management named Plumeri 2006 Insurance Leader of the Year.

In 2008, Plumeri led the largest insurance brokerage deal in the last decade, Willis’ $2.1 billion acquisition of Hilb Rogal & Hobbs. In 2009 and 2010, he was named to Treasury and Risk magazine’s list of “100 Most Influential People in Finance.”

The company now has more than 400 local offices in nearly 120 countries. The offices include the landmark Willis Building in London as well as Chicago’s Willis Tower, formerly Sears Tower, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere.

Before his work with Willis Group, Plumeri worked for 32 years with Citigroup and its predecessor companies.

As CEO of Citibank North America, he led the integration of the consumer businesses at Citicorp and Travelers Group. He also served as chairman and CEO of Travelers Primerica Financial Services, vice chairman of the Travelers Group, and president and managing partner of Shearson Lehman Brothers.

Among his philanthropic endeavors, Plumeri funded construction of the Samuel & Josephine Plumeri Wishing Place. Named in honor of his parents, the facility serves as the headquarters of the New Jersey chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He also funded the development of a new sports complex at the College of St. Rose in Albany, N.Y. The facility is named in honor of his late son, Christian.

Plumeri has also been recognized for his work by numerous civic and philanthropic organizations, including the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation, the Jackie Robinson Foundation, the Sons of Italy Foundation, the Intrepid Foundation, the Boy Scouts of America, and the Make-A-Wish Foundation and others.

Other honorees

In addition to Plumeri, the college will present honorary degree to C-SPAN President Brian Lamb and Marian Wright Edelman, president of the Children’s Defense Fund, at the ceremony.

Lamb helped found the Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN) in 1979. Since then, Lamb has served as the company’s chief executive officer and a regular on-air presence. He has also hosted “Booknotes” since the program began in 1989, and published three books on the series.

After college, Lamb joined the U.S. Navy and his service included work in the White House during President Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration. He later worked in the Pentagon public affairs office during the Vietnam War. Following his service, Lamb worked as a freelance reporter for UPI Audio, a Senate press secretary, and a White House telecommunications policy staff member.

In 1974, he began publishing The Media Report, a biweekly newsletter, and also covered communications issues as Washington bureau chief for Cablevision magazine.

Edelman’s career began in the mid-1960s when she directed the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund office in Jackson, Miss. She was the first black woman admitted to the Mississippi Bar.

In 1968, she moved to Washington, D.C., as counsel for the Poor People’s Campaign, which was started by Martin Luther King, Jr. She founded the Washington Research Project, a public interest law firm and parent body of the Children’s Defense Fund. Before starting CDF in 1973, she served two years as director of the Center for Law and Education at Harvard University.

Edelman has received numerous awards and honors, including the Albert Schweitzer Humanitarian Prize, the Heinz Award, and a MacArthur Foundation Prize Fellowship.

In 2000, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award, and the Robert F. Kennedy Lifetime Achievement Award for her many writings, which include “The Sea Is So Wide and My Boat is So Small: Charting a Course for the Next Generation,” “Lanterns: A Memoir of Mentors,” and “Guide My Feet: Prayers and Meditations on Loving and Working for Children.”