As we enter the new millennium, the Irish in the U.S. have reached a level of success that the immigrants of the last and early part of this century could have not possibly imagined. Our annual list of the “Best and the Brightest” offers more than a few surprises, such as Harvard being the number one graduate school, and the unusually large percentage of Irish-born.
Cathleen Black
President – Hearst Magazines Division
From advertising manager of Ms. magazine in 1972 to publisher of USA Today for eight years in the 1980s, Cathleen Black has done much to distinguish herself in the world of magazine and newspaper publishing.
She made history in 1996 when she was named as the first woman president of Hearst Magazines Division, and in her position as leader of the world’s largest publisher of monthly magazines she oversees such titles as Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, Esquire, Harper’s Bazaar, Town &Country, Popular Mechanics and Redbook. Eighteen months after her appointment, The New York Times announced, “Everyone in her orbit has become well acquainted with her strong suit: advertising, and the art of making people believe.”
Black serves on the board of directors of The Hearst Corporation, IBM, The Coca-Cola Company, and the Advertising Council. She is also a trustee of the University of Notre Dame.
A native of Chicago, Black is a graduate of Trinity College, Washington, D.C., and her Irish roots date back to her grandparents, who came from Portstewart, County Derry and County Cork. Married with two children, Black lives in New York.
David M. Brown
CEO – Lenscrafters, Inc.
David Browne’s philosophy is simple. “We exist to create value in lives,” he explains. “The secret ingredient in any successful organization is the degree to which people commit their hearts to a common goal.”
As president and chief executive officer of LensCrafters, Browne has worked hard to develop a corporate culture and commitment to customer service that has given the company a reputation for excellence in quality service.
Browne joined LensCrafters in 1987 as vice president of marketing, after stints at Optica and Procter &Gamble. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Browne serves as a director for the Points of Light Foundation in Washington, D.C. He also leads Give the Gift of Sight which encourages LensCrafters associates to volunteer providing free eyewear and eyecare to tens of thousands of needy people in North America and overseas.
A first-generation Irish American, whose parents emigrated from Ireland in the 1950s, Browne is married to Debbie and they have two sons, Doug and Drake.
Brian P. Burns
Chairman & President – DF Enterprises, Inc.
Brian Burns is the chairman and president of BF Enterprises, Inc. a publicly-owned real estate holding and development company. A nationally regarded business executive, attorney and philanthropist, Burns has been the moving force behind some 40 corporate mergers.
Burns is a director of the American Ireland Fund and the founder and principal benefactor of the Burns Library of Rare Books at Boston College.
In 1990, the Burns Foundation endowed the library with a Visiting Scholar in Irish Studies chair. Burns’ collection of Irish art, displayed in 1996 at Boston College is almost unequaled. His Irish art collection was the subject of a major exhibition for several months in 1997 at the Yale Center of British Art in New Haven, Connecticut.
Burns was a principal benefactor of the first Irish Famine memorial in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which was dedicated in July, 1997 by former Irish President, Mary Robinson. He currently serves as a member of the Irish Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Board.
Burns is vice chairman of the Irish American Fulbright Commission and is a member of the Trinity College Foundation Board in Dublin. He traces his roots to County Kerry. His wife, Eileen, is a member of the Advisory Board to the National Gallery of Ireland.
Jeremiah Casey
Chief Executive – Allied Irish Banks
Born in County Cork, Jeremiah Casey started his banking career with Allied Irish Banks, plc. in Ireland and rapidly moved through the ranks, eventually being appointed executive vice president of the North America region, a title which saw him move to New York in 1977.
In 1985, after a major AIB investment in a Maryland bank, Casey was appointed director of the First Maryland Bancorp in Baltimore and has since progressed to vice chairman in 1985, chairman in 1987. In 1992 he was appointed to the board of directors of Allied Irish Banks.
Casey is also involved in a number of charitable and civic organizations including the Ireland United States Council for Commerce and Industry, Mercy Medical Center and The Walters.
Married with four children, he lives in Baltimore.
Martha M. Cashman
Vice President – International Development, Land O Lakes
Land O’Lakes, Inc. is a national food and agricultural cooperative owned by and serving more than 10,000 producer-members and nearly 1,000 local community cooperatives in 27 states across the country.
Under the leadership of Martha Cashman, and through funding provided by the U.S. Agency for International Development and others, the international development division has provided agricultural-related training and technical assistance in, and hosted trainees from, countries throughout Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Central America, Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
Cashman serves on several boards and committees including the Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid and the U.S. Agricultural Technical Advisory Committee. She also served as the U.S. Private Sector Advisor for the World-Food Security Summit held in Rome in November of 1996.
Cashman holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Minnesota. A third-generation Irish American with roots in County Cork, she is married with two children.
Charles M. Cawley
Chairman & CEO – MBNA America Bank
Charles Cawley, chairman and chief executive officer of MBNA America Bank, N.A., and president of MBNA Corp. has more than 30 years’ experience in the financial services industry and was part of the team that established MBNA in 1982.
MBNA, the largest independent credit card lender in the world with more than $60 billion in assets, has operations in the U.S., the UK, Canada and an Irish sales office at St. Stephen’s Green in Dublin. MBNA employs more than 200 people in its Irish offices who are responsible for marketing, activation, collections and insurance activities. Thirty-seven Irish organizations endorse MBNA products to their members including The Royal Institute of Architects in Ireland and the Law Society of Ireland. MBNA markets to Irish Americans in the U.S. from its operation in Dublin.
A second-generation Irish American whose family came from County Sligo, Cawley said he is proud to be of Irish descent. “I see in many of my family members and Irish friends the special qualities of friendliness, hard work, strong will, and humor that are typical of the Irish,” he added. He is married with two children.
Arthur D. Collins, Jr.
President & COO – Medtronic, Inc.
Medtronic is the world’s leading medical technology company specializing in implantable and interventional therapies. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the company serves customers and patients in 120 countries and operates in such global areas as the Americas, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe, including an Irish subsidiary.
Arthur Collins joined Medtronic in 1992 from Abbott Laboratories where he had been corporate vice president with responsibility for Abbott’s worldwide diagnostic business units since 1986.
Appointed chief operating officer of Medtronic in 1994 and president in 1996, Collins is a 1969 graduate of Miami University of Ohio and he also holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania where he was a member of the undergraduate faculty.
Collins serves on the board of directors of U.S. Bancorp, the Tennant Company and the Walker Art Center. He was born in Lakewood, Ohio, and his mother’s family came from County Cavan. He currently resides in Minneapolis with his wife and two daughters.
William F. Connell
Chairman & CEO – Connell Limited Partnership
Prior to forming Connell Limited Partnership in 1987, William Connell was chairman and CEO of Avondale Industries, Inc., which was spun off from the Ogden Corporation in 1985. Since then, his new venture has acquired several companies which were part of Avondale and Ogden, all of which are primarily involved in metals recycling and the manufacture of industrial products.
Born in Lynn, Massachusetts, Connell graduated magna cum laude from Boston College in 1959 and earned an MBA from Harvard Business School four years later. His Irish roots are very important to him, as evidenced by his membership in the Eire Society, the American Ireland Fund and the Irish American Partnership. He is also active in a number of local community and cultural organizations in Boston including the Boston Citizen Seminars and the JFK Library Foundation. Connell’s father was born in Killarney, County Kerry, and his mother’s family came from Sligo. He is married with six children.
Liam S. Coonan
SVP & Asst. General Counsel – SBC Communications Inc.
As senior vice president and assistant general counsel for SBC Communications Inc., Liam Coonan is responsible for legal counsel in connection with litigation, environmental matters, antitrust, intellectual property, labor, and national and international subsidiary matters. In October 1997, Fortune magazine named SBC as the world’s most admired telecommunications company.
From 1968 to 1970, Coonan was a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice in the Antitrust Division. He subsequently joined the Justice Department’s Organized Crime and Racketeering Strike Force, serving from 1970 to 1976 as a trial attorney in Brooklyn, New York, assistant attorney in Newark, New Jersey, and then attorney in charge of the Midwest Region in St. Louis, Missouri.
A native of Thomastown, County Kilkenny, Coonan received a pre-medicine degree from Trinity College Dublin. He also holds a B.S. degree from Rutgers University and a J.D. degree from Seton Hall University Law School. He and his wife Bettina, a native of Berlin, have a daughter and a son, and he jokingly complains that nowadays, his kids get to spend more time in Ireland than he does.
Thomas A. Corcoran
President & COO – Lockheed Martin Electronics
After emigrating from Co. Cavan at the age of 13, Tom Corcoran graduated from high school and put himself through college. The holder of a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology, Corcoran worked for General Electric for over 25 years, serving as vice president for several of those years.
Since 1993, he has worked in the aerospace and defense industry consolidation where at Lockheed Martin he is president and chief operating officer.
Corcoran is extremely proud of his Irish heritage, and has two brothers and a sister still living in Ireland. He is active in the American Ireland Fund, and was chairman of the Fund’s national gala in Washington D.C. in 1997 and ’98. He also supports the Northern Ireland and Border Counties Trade and Investment Council, which fosters business between companies in Northern Ireland and the U.S.
He and his wife Claudia have two children. Says Corcoran: “I’m proud to be an Irish American. I remain optimistic that Ireland, with support from Irish Americans, is on a path to peace.”
Mary Ann Corrigan-Davis
SVP – International Operations
Mary Ann Corrigan-Davis joined American Greetings in 1977 as a sales representative. After earning greater responsibility in the area of product management she was promoted to vice president.
In 1992, she became president of Carlton Cards Retail, Inc., the retail subsidiary of American Greetings which has a branch in Dublin, Ireland. She was promoted to senior vice president, international operations in 1997 becoming the first woman to head subsidiaries both at the domestic and international level for American Greetings Corporation.
A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Corrigan-Davis earned her B.A. from John Carroll University and an M.S. in business management from Case Western Reserve University.
Corrigan-Davis is a second-generation Irish American and traces her roots to Achill Island, Mayo and Crossmolina, Mayo. Motivated by her belief that education is the key to future success, she is very active in supporting Catholic education at grammar, high school and university levels. She and her husband live in Rocky River, Ohio.
Gary P. Coughlan
SVP, Finance & CFO – Abbott Laboratories
Before joining Abbott in 1990, Gary Coughlan was senior vice president of finance for Kraft General Foods. Abbott Laboratories has several subsidiaries in Ireland including Dublin and Sligo.
An active member of the Chicago community, Coughlan is a director of the Chicago Botanic Garden and the Puerto Rico U.S.A Foundation. He is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago, the Chancellor’s Advisory Board of the University of Illinois in Chicago and the Advisory Council of the College of Commerce at DePaul University in Chicago. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Fort James Corporation.
A native of Fresno, California, Coughlan earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from St. Mary’s College of California and a master’s degree in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles. He also holds a master’s degree in business administration from Wayne State University in Detroit.
Coughlan is a fourth-generation Irish American. His father’s family is from County Cork and his mother’s is from County Clare. He is married and the father of five children.
John J. Cullinane
President – The Cullinane Group
From his early days as founder of Cullinet Software, Inc., John Cullinane marked himself out as an entrepreneur to watch. Named three times as CEO of the Year in the computer software products industry by the Wall Street Transcript, Cullinane’s latest venture is The Cullinane Group, Inc.
Founded in 1989, The Cullinane Group specializes in high tech investments and community activities. In 1997, Cullinane joined the board of directors of IONA Technologies, PLC. He also created the “Friends of Belfast,” an organization dedicated to peace in Northern Ireland through jobs and economic development.
Cullinane was honored by Boston’s Irish Immigration Center in recognition of his efforts to further economic development in Ireland and his commitment to a lasting peace there and was named Irishman of the Year by the Friends of JFK Library in Boston.
Born in Massachusetts to Waterford parents, Cullinane is a graduate of Northeastern University. He is a member of the American Ireland Fund and a former chairperson of the Massachusetts Trade Mission to Ireland. He and his wife have two children.
Darlene Daggett
Executive Vice President, Merchandising/Sales & Product Planning – QVC
As executive vice president for Merchandising/Sales &Product Planning, Darlene Daggett’s responsibilities include overall strategic planning and direction for all QVC product categories, developing new business avenues, and enhancing relationships with established vendors. Recently, Daggett created and introduced the first annual Q Star Awards, which were bestowed on QVC vendors in recognition of product creativity and sales success.
Daggett joined QVC in 1989. Recognized as a leading expert in the electronic retailing industry, she regularly guest lectures at both the Harvard and the Wharton Business School. Her community involvement includes Mommy’s Light Fund, a special fund for children of mothers terminally ill with cancer, and Habitat for Humanity.
A second-generation Irish American whose grandparents come from Counties Sligo and Mayo, Daggett regards her Irish heritage as “a source of tremendous pride. Ireland is a country of great warmth, passion and indefatigable spirit.” She is married with three children.
John T. Dee
President & CEO – Volume Services America
Volume Services America – which resulted from a merger this year between Volume Services and Service America, two of the largest food services providers in the U.S. — is a leading provider of food services to recreational facilities, including convention centers, stadiums and arenas. The company serves 130 facilities in the U.S. and Canada.
John Dee has been president, chief executive officer and a director of the company since January 1993, and was a consultant to the company from November 1992 to January 1993.
Prior to that, he worked for such companies as Aramark Corporation, a food service business, and Sportservice Corporation, responsible for concessions and merchandise operations at airports, theaters, stadiums, arenas and racetracks.
A native of St. Louis, Dee obtained his BA degree from the University of Missouri. He is a second-generation Irish American, whose father’s family came from Tuam, Co. Galway and Tralee, Co. Kerry and whose mother’s family, the Kellys, came from Co. Wexford.
Dee enjoys breeding and owning race horses, and he also plays golf. He is married with three children.
Gail Deegan
Executive Vice President, CFO & Treasurer – Houghton Mifflin Company
Gail Deegan started her career in 1969 as a public school teacher in Massachusetts and California. After eight years in the school system, she switched to the business world and worked for four years in financial administration at Eastern Enterprises. By the time she left that organization in 1991, she had been appointed senior vice president, chief financial officer and chief administrative officer.
Since then, Deegan spent five years at NYNEX, New England and in 1996 she took up a position as executive vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer at publishing giant Houghton Mifflin.
The holder of an MA in history from Ohio State University and an MBA from Simmons Graduate School of Management, Deegan is a second-generation Irish American. Her father’s family can be traced back to County Kilkenny, while her mother’s relatives, the Walshes, hail from Gorey, County Wexford.
Deegan is a member of several boards, both commercial and civic, including the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and the United Way of Massachusetts Bay. The New England Council gave her its leadership award for women in business in 1996.
She and her husband, William Huddleston, live in Newtonville, Massachusetts. They have two sons, Richard and Thomas.
Robert M. Devlin
Chairman & CEO – American General Corporation
Robert Devlin is chairman and chief executive officer of American General Corporation, one of the nation’s largest diversified financial services organizations and leading providers of retirement services, life insurance, and consumer loans.
A native of Brooklyn, New York, Devlin earned a B.A. in economics from Tulane University. He also served in the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Naval Reserves.
Devlin’s career began with Mutual of America where he worked as an agent and served in a number of marketing positions before joining American General in 1977. He became only the fourth chairman and chief executive officer in the company’s 72-year history. He also serves on the board of directors of Cooper Industries.
In the civic realm, Devlin is a trustee of The American College, Bryn Mawr, PA and the Museum of Fine Arts of Houston. He also serves on the advisory board of Tulane University, the Board of Governors of the Houston Forum and the Board of Directors of the Greater Houston Partnership. A third-generation Irish American, he is also a member of the Irish American Partnership. He is married with two sons.
John T. Dillon
Chairman & CEO – International Paper
John Dillon is chairman and chief executive officer of International Paper. From September 19, 1995 to April 1, 1996 he served as the company’s president and chief operating officer.
Prior to that Dillon was executive vice president of packaging, where he was responsible for the company’s industrial and consumer packaging businesses, as well as its corporate engineering and technology staffs. He was also in charge of the company’s operations in Asia and served on the board of directors of Carter Holt Harvey, a New Zealand paper and forest products company.
Dillon received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Hartford in 1965 and a master’s degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business in 1971.
He grew up in rural upstate New York, where his grandfather, a native of Clones, County Monaghan, settled when he came to the U.S.
Roy E. Disney
Vice Chairman of the Board – The Walt Disney Company
The wonderful world of Disney has been going strong for almost 75 years and Walt’s nephew Roy E. Disney has been involved in that world for nearly 50 of those years, since he worked on the TV series Dragnet in 1953.
He has worked as a film editor, producer and director and in 1984 he was appointed vice chairman of the company founded as Wait Disney Productions by his father Roy and uncle Walt. He also heads the studio’s expanding animation department.
Disney is a principal investor in Trefoil Capital Partners and chairman of Shamrock Holdings, a wholly-owned family enterprise which he set up in 1978. He has been involved with the American Ireland Fund for some years.
The Disney ancestors were a French Huguenot family, originally named d’Isigny, who settled in Ireland in the 18th century. Disney maintains strong links to his Irish background, owning a castle in West Cork.
An English graduate of Pomona College, Disney was born in Los Angeles. He is married to Patty Dailey, an Irish American, and they have four children and ten grandchildren.
Charles F. Dolan
Chairman – Cablevision Systems Corporation
Charles F. Dolan is the founder and chairman of Cablevision Systems Corporation, one of the nation’s leading telecommunications and entertainment companies. The son of an inventor, Dolan was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio.
His earliest professional endeavors focused on the packaging, marketing and distribution of sports and industrial films. Working with his wife Helen Ann in their Cleveland home, Dolan edited and produced short film reels of sports events for syndication to television stations.
In the early 1970s, Dolan founded Home Box Office Inc., the first premium programming service in the cable television industry. After the sale of Home Box Office to Time Life Inc., Dolan organized Cablevision Systems Corporation on Long Island in 1973.
Today, Cablevision is one of the nation’s largest television operators as well as a multi-faceted business providing specialized TV programming vehicles.
In 1997, Cablevision purchased a majority interest in the Madison Square Garden properties, which include the arena complex, the NBA New York Knicks, the NHL New York Rangers as well as the MSG Network. Dolan and his wife Helen live on Long Island and they have six children.
James L. Dolan
President & CEO – Cablevision Systems Corporation
As president and chief executive officer of Cablevision Systems Corporation, James L. Dolan oversees the company’s expanded telecommunications and entertainment services, which include robust cable television packages, high-speed Internet access service, national television program networks, championship professional sports teams, Radio City Music Hall, and Nobody Beats the Wiz stores. Dolan also sits on Madison Square Garden’s four-member board of directors, overseeing the management of the Garden entities, of which Cablevision is the majority owner.
Dolan joined Cablevision in the 1970s and prior to assuming his present post with the company, he amassed more than two decades of experience in the management of cable systems, cable programming and advertising.
Dolan is a member of the board of directors of Cablevision Systems Corporation and serves on its executive committee. He is a member of the board of directors of Hazelden New York, Cable Positive and CableLabs, and serves on the Capital Campaign Committee at Friends Academy.
The father of five, Dolan is a dedicated yachtsman and an avid musician.
James A. Dwyer
President & Managing Partner – Wireless One Network
Jim Dwyer started his career in the communications industry in 1958, after military service. He worked with a New York firm, Radio Engineering Labs, until 1969 and then moved to Western Union International in New Jersey.
Since 1987, Dwyer has been president and managing partner of Wireless One Network, formerly the Independent Cellular Network which he founded. In 1996, the northern portion of this business was sold to 360° Communications and the Florida West Coast operation was retained and expanded to include two markets in the Panhandle of Florida.
Dwyer also retains Qualicom, Inc., a family-owned business in Southwest Florida in the technical services business. He is a member of the New York Bar, the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association and the Radio Club of America.
Both of Dwyer’s parents were born in Ireland, his mother in Dublin and his father in Roscommon. He is a member of the Irish Heritage Society of Southwest Florida. Dwyer and his wife Nancy have 12 children, and reside in Fort Myers, Florida. They also have a home in Ireland at Mount Juliet, County Kilkenny.
M. Katherine Dwyer
President – Revlon Consumer Products
Kathy Dwyer was appointed president, Revlon Consumer Products, USA in January 1998. She had been president, Revlon Cosmetics, USA since November 1995 and was elected a corporate officer of Revlon in January 1997. Dwyer joined Revlon in 1993 and during her tenure she has served as executive vice president and general marketing manager of Mass Cosmetics, and executive vice president of Cosmetics and Fragrance Marketing for Revlon North America.
Prior to joining Revlon, Dwyer held senior positions at Clairol, Inc., Victoria Creations and Avon Products. She was director of L’Oreal Haircare, a division of Cosmair, Inc., from 1985 to 1987 and held positions of increasingresponsibility with The Gillette Company from 1976 to 1985. Prior to joining Gillette, she was an accountant with Price Waterhouse.
Dwyer holds a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, majoring in psychology, and an M.B.A. from Boston University in finance and organizational behavior.
A second-generation Irish American with roots in Counties Clare, Cork and Antrim, Dwyer serves on the board of directors for Reebok and WestPoint Stevens, and works with the Incarnation Children’s Center.
Richard J. Egan
Founder & Chairman – EMC
Innovation has been the hallmark of Dr. Joyce Fitzpatrick’s tenure as dean of Case Western Reserve University’s Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, a position she held for 15 years, longer than anyone else, and one she left on December 31, 1997.
From now until August 31, Fitzpatrick will take a well-earned leave of absence, after which she will return to the faculty as the Elizabeth Brooks Ford Professor of Nursing at CWRU.
During her time as dean of the Bolton School, Fitzpatrick collaborated with universities in such countries as Egypt, Hungary, Italy, Korea, Lebanon, Slovenia, Thailand, Uganda and Zimbabwe. In 1986, the Bolton School and University College Galway put their heads together to try and develop a university-based nursing training course.
In 1989, funding was raised for a collaborative program between UCG and the John P. Murphy Foundation in Cleveland.
Through the program, Irish nurses study in Cleveland for their degrees and then return to work in Irish hospitals. The hope is that eventually, these nurses will be in a position to help create Ireland’s first basic degree program for nursing at UCG.
In 1994, Fitzpatrick was appointed a distinguished scholar in residence by the Institute of Medicine, the American Academy of Nursing, and the American Nurses’ Foundation. The following year, she was appointed U.S. Public Health Service Primary Care Policy Fellow. She has also received the American Journal of Nursing Award eight times. In 1997, she was recognized as a distinguished practitioner by the National Academies of Practice.
Charles Feeney
Chief Executive – General Atlantic Group
A native and resident of New Jersey, Chuck Feeney has dedicated considerable energy and commitment to helping the peace process in Ireland. He was one of four Irish Americans involved in bringing about the IRA and Loyalist ceasefires.
A member of the Irish-American Economic Board, he is actively promoting investment opportunity and expanded job creation in the Border counties and in Northern Ireland.
A graduate of Cornell University, Feeney’s business activities include investments in real estate, retailing, energy, hotels and information technology.
His years of anonymous giving to a host of charities and educational trusts were finally exposed after the sale of Duty Free Shops, the chain Feeney co-founded with Robert Miller. Low-key and retiring, Feeney once told The New York Times that he had given so much of his millions away because “you can only wear one pair of shoes at a time.” Much of his money was directed towards Irish universities $15 million went to the University of Limerick and $10 million to Trinity College Dublin. Feeney traces his Irish roots back to Co. Fermanagh.
William Flaherty
Chairman & CEO – Horsehead Industries Inc.
William Flaherty founded Horsehead Industries in 1981 and is the company’s largest shareholder. Since its inception, Horsehead Industries has developed into three distinct operating divisions involved in the production of graphite, calcine petroleum coke, zinc metals and chemicals.
One of these highly successful divisions is Horsehead Resource Development which was described by Business Week magazine as “one of America’s 1,000 most valuable companies.” Horsehead Industries also made the Fortune 500 listing of the ten most profitable companies in 1991.
Flaherty is a member of many philanthropic organizations. He is a director of the national board of Junior Achievement, Inc. and a trustee and member of the executive committee of the Wildlife Conservation Society.
His previous business affiliations were with General Motors Corporation and Reynolds Metals Company. Flaherty’s roots are in Galway. He was born in New York City, and educated at Columbia and New York Universities.
William J. Flynn
Chairman of the Board – Mutual of America
The name Bill Flynn is one which has long been synonymous with the Irish peace process and in recognition of his decisive leadership and daring diplomacy on this front he was the inaugural recipient earlier this year of the Initiative for Peace Award from the National Committee on American Foreign Policy.
Flynn has also made a name for himself in the corporate world, helping to build Mutual of America from a small struggling organization in 1971 into the industry leader and insurance giant it is today.
The native New Yorker has Irish roots in Counties Mayo and Down and he is extremely prominent in the Irish American community in the city of his birth. He was selected as the Grand Marshal of the 1996 New York St. Patrick’s Day Parade and was also named head of the Knights of Malta. He is involved with the Ireland Chamber of Commerce in the U.S.A., the Irish American Partnership and the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick.
A past pupil of Cathedral College of the Immaculate Conception, Flynn holds an M.A. from Fordham University and is married with four children and ten grandchildren.
Michael Foley
President & CEO – Heineken USA
When Heineken forged an alliance with Murphy’s Brewery in County Cork, Ireland, in 1983, Wexford native Michael Foley joined the company. Heineken USA, Inc. distributes brand name beers such as Amstel Light, Heineken, Murphy’s Irish Stout, Murphy’s Irish Amber and Buckler nonalcoholic beer.
Foley, who was appointed managing director of Murphy’s in 1989, relocated to the U.S. at the request of Heineken USA in 1993, and in January 1994 he assumed his current role as president of the company.
Before joining Murphy’s, Foley worked for both U.S. and Japanese multi-national subsidiaries in Ireland in several financial/controllership capacities.
Foley is a graduate of University College Dublin, where he earned a degree in commerce, and he qualified as a chartered accountant in 1975. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland, and a member of the Irish U.S. Council for Commerce and Industry. He also serves as a Board member of Agincourt Capital LLP and The America Ireland Fund.
Foley is married with three children.
Patrick Foley
Chairman & CEO – DHL Airways
DHL Airways, Inc. is the U.S. arm of DHL Worldwide Express, the world’s largest and most experienced international air express network. Serving more than 220 countries, DHL specializes in international door-to-door express shipping of goods of any weight and size.
Patrick Foley, a native of Washington State, graduated from Washington State University and Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program. He began his career with Westin Hotels and later joined Hyatt Hotels, where he served as chairman and president.
Under Foley’s leadership, Hyatt expanded its chain from about five to 100 hotels. Foley served as vice chairman and later as chief executive officer of Braniff Airlines from 1984 until 1988. He joined DHL in 1988.
Foley has family roots in County Kerry and says he is “intensely proud” of his Irish heritage. He currently serves on the Foundation Board of Directors for the University of Limerick, Ireland. He is married with three children.
John Gallagher, Sr.
Chairman & CEO – Arrow International
Based in Cleveland, Ohio, Arrow International is a leading supplier to the charitable gaming industry. John Gallagher founded the company and is chief executive officer and chairman of the board. With 13 satellite facilities spanning the globe, he plans to open Arrow subsidiaries in both Mayo and Dublin.
He is actively in the peace process and economic development of Ireland. As founding member and former vice chair of the Ireland Chamber of Commerce in the USA (ICCUSA) he frequently travels to Ireland with business colleagues.
He serves on the board of All Hallows Seminary in Dublin and previously served on the president’s board for University College Dublin. His support for Ireland led Fianna Fail, Ireland’s largest political party, to select Gallagher as “a leading Irish American.”
A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Gallagher attended the Family Business Program at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. His wife, Catherine, is a Mayo native, as were his own parents, and the couple vacation frequently at their home in Currane Heights, Co. Mayo. They have six children and nine grandchildren.
Sarah M. Gallivan
Vice President & Gen. Counsel – BJ’s Wholesale Club
Sarah Gallivan, is vice president and general counsel of BJ’s Wholesale Club, Inc., a public company with over $3 billion in annual sales.
BJ’s introduced the wholesale concept to the northeastern United States in the mid-1980s, and since then has expanded its operations to 13 states from Maine to Florida. They now have 88 clubs with over 4,000,000 members and 12,000 plus employees.
A native of Dublin, Sarah Gallivan attended University College Dublin and went on to become a solicitor. She emigrated to the U.S. in 1969 and was admitted to the Bar in Massachusetts in 1973.
A member of several organizations including the American Bar Association and Harvard Celtic Friends, Gallivan is also president of the New England Corporate Counsel Association and the director of the University College Dublin Graduates Association, Boston Chapter.
A resident of Cambridge, she and her husband Gopalakrishna Kadagathur have two children and like to spend as much time as possible at their vacation home in Co. Cork where her mother’s family is from.
Christopher B. Galvin
CEO – Motorola
Christopher Galvin began working at Motorola in summer jobs in 1967, and joined the company full-time in 1973. For the next decade, he held sales, sales management, marketing management and product management assignments in the communications sector, the two-way radio business in that era.
In 1983, he joined Tegal Corp. — a wholly-owned subsidiary of Motorola and manufacturer of plasma etching and stripping equipment for the semiconductor industry — as vice president, marketing, sales and service. A year later he was named vice president and general manager of Tegal’s U.S. operations.
Galvin was elected president and chief operating officer of Motorola in December 1993, and chief executive officer in January 1997.
He received a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, and a master’s degree with distinction from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern.
His Irish ancestors immigrated to the U.S. around the famine era of 1850 and settled in the Midwest.
Robert P. Gannon
President, Chairman & CEO – The Montana Power Company
Before joining Montana Power in 1974 as an attorney, Bob Gannon served as an assistant attorney general for the state of Montana for two years and as an assistant U.S. attorney for another two and a half years.
A native of Butte, Montana, Gannon is chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer of The Montana Power Company. He earned a bachelor’s degree in government from the University of Notre Dame and a law degree from the University of Montana Law School. Gannon also completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard University.
A third-generation Irish American, with roots on his father’s side in Counties Carlow, Kildare and Mayo, Gannon spends his free time playing handball, golf and skiing. During the summer, he and his family spend time at their summer home on Flathead Lake, Montana. He is married with two children.
Thomas E. Hales
Chairman, President & CEO – Union State Bank & USB Holding Company
In 1982, when Thomas Hales joined Union State Bank, the organization had assets of $23 million. Under his leadership, in 1997 this figure crossed the $1 billion threshold. Today, the bank has a total of 22 locations in New York State, and is listed on the American Stock Exchange.
Hales began his business career on the staff of Price Waterhouse &Co. and left in 1973 to start his own accounting firm which he ran for 17 years. After stints at Image Maker, a retail photo-finishing firm in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, and C. Pappas Company, Inc., he joined Union State Bank in 1982.
A second-generation Irish American, with roots in County Cork, Hales serves on the boards of a number of civic and professional organizations, including the Independent Bankers’ Association of America, the Leukemia Society of America, Iona College and Nyack Hospital.
He is a member of the Westchester and Rockland County Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick, and is also a Knight of the Holy Sepulcher. Hales and his wife Alice Marie have three sons and three daughters.
Julie Halpin
Founder & CEO – The Geppetto Group
Julie Halpin is a founder and chief executive officer of the Geppetto Group, a fullservice kid and teen advertising agency handling clients like the Cartoon Network, Polaroid and Avery Kids.
Prior to creating the Geppetto Group, Halpin had been a founder and the general manager of Saatchi &Saatchi’s Kid Connection division where she worked for 12 years on a variety of kid projects. She was introduced to the world of kid marketing in 1984 while working on M&M/Mars at Leo Burnett Co.
Halpin has a B.A. from Holy Cross College and an M.A. from New York University. She was named one of Advertising Age’s “Women to Watch” in 1998.
Halpin is a third-generation Irish American — her father’s family hails from Counties Cavan, Fermanagh, Galway and Roscommon and her mother’s from County Cork. A fan of Irish music, she is also a 1978 alumnus of the Irish American Cultural Institute’s “Irish Way” program. She credits her exploration of her Irish heritage as her initiation into the power of language, the importance of tradition and the endless possibilities for creative self-expression.
Gary S. Horan
President & CEO – Our Lady of Mercy Healthcare System
As a New York medical college hospital located on a multi-site campus in the Bronx, Our Lady of Mercy Medical Center (OLMMC) has come a long way from its humble beginnings as a shelter for unwed mothers run by five Misericordia Sisters in the Yorkville section of Manhattan.
Today, OLMMC provides state-of-the-art medical care, primary care and community outreach services as part of a healthcare system which includes Our Lady of Mercy Medical Center, Saint Agnes Hospital in White Plains, The Florence D’Urso Pavilion and six medical villages.
The moving force behind the growth of OLMMC is president and chief executive officer, Gary Horan. A graduate of St. Peter’s College in Jersey City and the George Washington University School of Government and Business, Horan has held senior positions at St. Vincent’s and New York University hospitals. He is a second-generation Irish American, with roots in Counties Cork and Derry. He is married with three children.
Joseph R. Kane, Jr.
President & CEO – Days Inns of America
Bringing more than 32 years experience in the hotel industry, Joseph Kane was named president and chief executive officer of Days Inns of America in January 1996.
Kane received a degree in Hotel and Restaurant Administration from Paul Smith’s College in New York. He also holds the prestigious Certified Hotel Administrator (CHA) designation.
A Naugatuck, Connecticut native, Kane began his hotel career at the age of 16, working summers in hotels in New Hampshire. To this day, his personal motto remains unchanged: “In the world of hospitality, no single brand, no single property owner, no single team member is more important than the number one priority of any lodging business — our guests.”
Days Inns is currently exploring an international franchise agreement with Ireland. Kane is a third-generation Irish American, with roots on his father’s side in Counties Cavan and Kilkenny. He is married to Maureen and they have a daughter, Erin, and twin sons, Paul and Joseph.
John M. Kehoe, Jr.
President & CEO – Wheelabrator Technologies
Since the foundation of Wheelabrator Technologies – a wholly owned subsidiary of Waste Management Inc. — in the early 1970s, John Kehoe has been a principal figure in the success of the organization. His aggressive leadership has propelled the New Hampshire-based Wheelabrator — a multi-billion-dollar energy and environmental services company — to the premier spot in the energy services industry.
Known throughout the United States as the “father of resource recovery,” Kehoe has written several important industry articles and has testified before Congress on environmental legislation.
He has also advanced environmental, education and charitable causes throughout the country and is deeply involved with Dr. I Fund a New York-based organization that makes state-of-the-art medical research and treatment available to those in need.
Kehoe, a New York native, earned a degree from Long Island’s Hofstra University. He is a third-generation Irish American who can trace his Irish ancestry to County Cork. Kehoe is married with seven children.
Denis P. Kelleher
Founder & CEO – Wall Street Access
Denis Kelleher emigrated from Ireland to the U.S. in 1958 and began his career as a messenger for Merrill Lynch. Drive, ambition and a healthy dose of talent soon marked him out as one of that company’s experts on the operating side of the business, and he moved quickly up the ranks.
By 1980, Kelleher had founded his own company, Wall Street Investor Services, now Wall Street Access — a diversified financial services organization with expertise in asset management, bank brokerage programs and discount brokerage. It processes billions of dollars in transactions annually and is listed on the U.S. Stock Exchange.
Kelleher graduated St. John’s University, New York with a B.S. degree. He serves on the board of the Irish Investment Fund, the Staten Island Savings Bank and St. John’s University. He is a member of the American Ireland Fund and was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 1995. He is married with three children.
Kevin M. Kelleher
Senior Vice President & CFO – Sony Music Entertainment
Since January 1994 Kevin Kelleher has been the senior vice president and chief financial officer at Sony Music, responsible for the company’s worldwide finance and MIS organizations. He joined Sony in 1992, and previously held the position of senior vice president and controller. Sony has a subsidiary in Dublin.
Prior to joining Sony, Kelleher worked at Price Waterhouse, a company he joined in 1981 after graduating from Rutgers Graduate School of Management. He holds a BA degree from Middlebury College and an MBA from Rutgers.
A certified public accountant, Kelleher is a member of the American Institute of CPA’s and the New York State Society of CPA’s. He is also a board member and treasurer of the TJ Martell Foundation.
Kelleher and his wife Carol have been married for 15 years. They have three children — 12-year-old Jennifer, Kevin, 10, and Kristen, 6. He is a third-generation Irish American and traces his roots to Counties Clare and Cork.
Alfred F. Kelly, Jr.
Executive Vice President & Gen. Manager, Consumer Marketing – American Express Co.
As executive vice president and general manager of customer marketing for the Consumer Card Services Group at American Express, Al Kelly leads all efforts related to American Express and Optima Cards and customers in the U.S.
Before joining American Express in 1987, Kelly was manager of information systems at the White House, where he led data processing functions for eight of the 11 agencies that comprise the Executive Office of the President. In 1986, he received a White House Award for Distinguished Service.
Kelly is chairman of the Wall Street Charity Golf Classic, which raises funds for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
He also serves on the board of trustees for Iona College and is a member of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick in Westchester County.
Kelly received his BA and MBA degrees from Iona College in New Rochelle, New York. He resides with his wife and their four children in New Rochelle. He is a second-generation Irish American with family roots on his mother’s side in County Cork.
David M. Kelly
Chairman – Matthews International Corporation
David Kelly was elected chairman of the board of Matthews International in March 1996. He joined the company in April 1995 as president and chief operating officer and was appointed chief executive officer in October of that year.
Prior to his employment with Matthews, Kelly spent 22 years at Carrier Corporation, where he worked as marketing vice president for Asia Pacific, president of Japanese operations and in a number of other positions.
Kelly received a B.S. degree from Boston College in 1964, an M.S. degree from Yale University in 1966, and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1968. He is chairman of the executive committee, the Jas. H. Matthews &Co. Educational and Charitable Trust and the Pension Board, and serves on the boards of various subsidiaries of Matthews International Corporation. He is also a member of the board of directors of Mestek, Inc., the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and the United Way Agency of Allegheny County.
He is married with two sons. Kelly is a second-generation Irish American, with roots on his father’s side in County Roscommon.
Francis Xavier Kelly
Founder, Chairman & CEO – Kelly & Associates Insurance
Former State Senator Francis Kelly began his career in public service shortly after graduating from Villanova University in 1961, when he served seven years in the Army National Guard.
Ten years later he was elected to the Maryland State Senate, where he spent 12 years, holding a number of high-profile positions. He is most proud of the fact that his sponsorship of Maryland’s Spending Affordability Committee resulted in the state’s taxpayers being saved over one billion dollars.
Kelly &Associates, founded in 1976, specializes in group insurance benefits and is responsible for more than $200 million in brokered and administered insurance premiums annually, serving over 6,000 corporate clients.
All four of Kelly’s sons — Frank III, John, David and Bryan — have joined their father in the business. A fourth-generation Irish American, who traces his roots to John-stown, Kilkenny, Kelly lives in Hunt Valley, Maryland with his wife of 36 years, Janet. They have ten grandchildren.
James P. Kelly
Chairman & CEO – United Parcel Service
Jim Kelly assumed the position of chairman and chief executive officer of United Parcel Service (UPS) in 1997, having previously served as vice chairman and chief operating officer.
The company has located its main European customer service telephone center in Tallaght, Dublin and also has three operating centers in Dublin, Cork and Shannon. UPS employs over 600 people in Ireland and plans to increase this figure to 900 by the year 2000.
Says Kelly: “The UPS customer service operation in Ireland has been integral to our ability to meet heightened customer demand in Europe. And with an educated, multi-lingual and highly motivated workforce, Ireland will continue to be an important part of our expanding European network.”
A native of Jersey City, New Jersey, Kelly earned a B.A. degree in business from Rutgers University. Following service in the U.S. Navy, his career with UPS began in 1964 as a package delivery driver in his home state. He continued to steadily advance over the next 30-plus years. He and his wife reside in Alpharetta, Georgia and have four children.
John F. Kelly
Chairman & CEO – Alaska Air Group
John Kelly is chairman, president and chief executive officer of Alaska Air Group and chairman and chief executive officer of Alaska Airlines. He previously served as executive vice president and chief operating officer of Alaska Airlines, and prior to that was Horizon Air’s president and chief executive officer. Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group.
Kelly is a native of the Seattle-Tacoma area and is a 1967 graduate of the University of Puget Sound where he majored in business administration. In 1993 he received awards of Distinguished Friend and Distinguished Alumnus of the School of Business and Administration, the first time in the school’s history the two awards had been presented to one individual.
A third-generation Irish American, with family roots in Galway on his father’s side, and Co. Silgo on his mother’s, Kelly enjoys photography, skiing and mountain biking in his spare time. He and his wife Maggi reside in Seattle. They have one daughter, Shannon.
Bernard J. Kennedy
Chairman, President & CEO – National Fuel Gas Company
Headquartered in Buffalo, New York, National Fuel Gas Company dates back to the earliest days of the natural gas and oil industry in the U.S. and the company has been responsible for many historic firsts.
As chairman, president, chief executive officer and director, Bernard Kennedy is responsible for the overall management of the company. Kennedy joined Iroquois Gas Corporation as an attorney in 1958, and progressed through a number of staff and line positions.
Kennedy is a native of Niagara Falls, and graduated from Niagara University in 1953. He served in the U.S. Army Infantry until 1955, before going on to receive his J.D. degree from the University of Michigan Law School.
He serves on the boards of a number of civic and commercial organizations, including the American Red Cross, Greater Buffalo Regional Chapter, the Greater Buffalo Partnership and the American Gas Association.
A second-generation Irish American, with family roots in Connaught, Kennedy lives with his wife, Jerry, in Eggertsville, New York. They have five children.
Donald R. Keough
Chairman of the Board – Allen & Company
In 1993, Donald Keough was elected chairman of Allen &Company, a New York investment banking company. At the time, he was still serving as president of the Coca-Cola Company, which he joined in 1950. He retired from Coca-Cola in 1993. Keough also serves on the boards of the Washington Post and H.J. Heinz Co., among others.
A navy veteran and a graduate of Creighton University, from which he was awarded an honorary doctorate, Keough was born in Iowa. He also received honorary degrees from Trinity College Dublin and the University of Notre Dame, where in 1993 he and his wife, Marilyn, endowed a chair of Irish studies.
Keough has served on the Irish government’s economic advisory board and has led several U.S. delegations to Ireland to promote economic development.
Donald E. Kiernan
Senior Vice President, Treasurer & CFO – SBC Communications Inc.
As chief financial officer, Donald E. Kiernan oversees all the financial affairs of SBC Communications Inc. He is also directly responsible for the corporation’s investor and shareowner relations, investment management, treasury, corporate finance, financial planning, accounting, internal audit, SEC and tax matters.
Kiernan joined SBC as vice president-finance in May 1990. Prior to that, Kiernan was a partner with Arthur Young &Company (and its successor firm, Ernst &Young), where he held several positions, including heading that firm’s management consulting practice in Florida and managing partner of its St. Louis office.
Kiernan serves on the boards of Bio-Numerick Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Horace Mann Educators Corporation, and the Private Sector Council. A third-generation Irish American whose ancestors hail from Co. Cork, Kiernan was raised in Trumbull, CT. He holds a B.S. degree from Boston College and an M.B.A. from Florida State University and served as an officer in the U.S. Navy. He is married with two children.
Robert E. Logan
Chief Information Officer – J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc.
As Robert E. Logan puts it so well, he was named “for bold Robert Emmet, the bard of Armagh.” A third-generation Irish American with roots on his father’s side in County Mayo, Logan spent over 25 years with United Parcel Service.
Starting as a deliveryman, and gradually working his way up the ranks to attain the position of senior vice president of engineering, Logan’s retirement in 1990 was short lived.
In 1996 he was asked to return to the business world as a business and employee consultant at J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. The company has a software office in Northern Ireland. In 1997 he was offered the position of chief information officer for the company and serves on the executive management team.
Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, Logan attended St. Peter’s College. In a distinguished athletic career, he has completed marathons in Berlin, Frankfurt, London, New York City, Washington, D.C. and Dallas. He is also a keen golfer and enjoys birdwatching. Logan is married with four children.
John N. MacDonough
Chairman & CEO – Miller Brewing Company
Jack MacDonough has been chairman and chief executive officer of the Miller Brewing Company for five years and is a third-generation Irish American. He takes pride in the success of Miller Genuine Draft as a top-selling beer in Ireland.
MacDonough has 20 years of experience in the beer business. Before joining Miller in 1992, he was executive vice president of marketing for Anheuser-Busch International. He also served as Anheuser-Busch’s vice president of brand management.
As part of Miller’s civic commitment to Milwaukee and Wisconsin, MacDonough serves on the boards of the Green Bay Packers and the Milwaukee Brewers. He also serves on the boards of M&I Marshall &Ilsley Bank and Wisconsin Energy Corporation.
MacDonough is a graduate of Cornell University where he lettered in crew. He received his MBA from Stanford University in 1968. His interest in photography and Ireland is manifested in his photography collection of Irish scenery taken on trips to Ireland over the last 18 years.
MacDonough and his wife, Kathleen Sullivan, have one child, 15-year-old Steven. They reside in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Katherine L. MacWilliams
Vice President & Treasurer – Coors Brewing Company
Katie MacWilliams joined Coors Brewing Company in April 1996 as vice president and treasurer. She is responsible for all treasury functions, including capital structure, external financing, cash management, investor relations, risk management/insurance, pension asset management and banking relationships. She is also responsible for managing the company’s exposures to financial market risks.
Prior to joining Coors, MacWilliams served as vice president of capital markets for UBS Securities in New York. In addition, she has held a wide range of financial positions with The First National Bank of Chicago, Sears Roebuck and Co., and Ford Motor Company. She is a past board member of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. and a current director of the Selected family of mutual funds.
Born in Michigan and raised outside Chicago, Illinois, MacWilliams earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois and an MBA from the University of Michigan. She is a fourth-generation Irish American on her father’s side.
John C. Malone
CEO – Telecommunications, Inc.
The addition of John Malone to the upper management levels of TeleCommunications, Inc. (TCI) in 1973 turned what was fast becoming a cash-strapped company to its current status as a world leader in the telecommunications industry.
Malone, who is based in Colorado, is recognized as a visionary in the field, yet he shuns the spotlight and is intensely private. In 1991, he organized a TCI spin-off, Liberty Media, by selling stock in TCI.
Three years ago, TCI joined forces with Sprint, the long-distance telephone operator, and cable operators Cox Enterprises and Comcast Corp., as part of a consortium planning to offer Sprint’s phone services over cable TV lines.
Since the death of TCI founder Bob Magness, Malone has, in the words of Fortune magazine, increased his “already considerable hold on the company.”
Malone, whose ancestry is Scots-Irish, is a member of the American Ireland Fund. He holds master’s degrees from Yale and New York Universities, and a Ph.D. from John Hopkins. He is married with two children.
James McCann
President – 1-800-FLOWERS
Jim McCann, one of the greatest Irish American business success stories, has come a very long way since he purchased a small flower shop on East 63rd Street in New York City 22 years ago.
A former social worker, the 47-year-old McCann soon managed to turn his single retail outlet into 1-800-FLOWERS, the world’s best-known florist. Today, 1-800-FLOWERS reaches its customers in a variety of ways including its toll-free telephone number, the Internet, and through its more than 150 company-owned franchise stores around the world.
McCann is well-known on the corporate speaking circuit where he has earned a reputation as an innovative marketer and an entertaining speaker. Toastmasters International named him 1997 Speaker of the Year.
McCann’s first book, Stop and Sell the Roses, was published in May, and to date has sold nearly 100,000 copies.
Born in Queens, New York, McCann has Irish grandparents and holds a psychology degree from the City University of New York. He is married with three children.
Michael McCarthy
SVP & Executive Producer – Madison Square Garden Network
As senior vice president and executive producer of the Madison Square Garden (MSG) Network, Mike McCarthy oversees the production of New York Yankees, Knicks, Rangers, Liberty, and CityHawks telecasts.
He is involved in all aspects of the telecasts, including the selection of on-air talent and production staffs, opening animations and technical upgrades like HDTV.
McCarthy’s accomplishments have been recognized on numerous occasions. In 1991, he won his first Emmy for “Live Sports Coverage” for Knicks basketball and has gone on to win a total of 14 New York Emmy’s.
A graduate of Marist College, McCarthy began his sports career by working on the grounds crew at Shea Stadium, where his father John served as Head Groundskeeper and Stadium Manager until his death in 1994. McCarthy lives in Fairfield, Connecticut with his wife Allison, son Jeremy and daughter Maggie. He is a second-generation Irish American with roots on his father’s side in County Mayo. He is a member of the Gaelic American Club.
Julie A. McGee
President – McDougal Littell / Executive Vice President – Houghton Mifflin Co.
Julie McGee joined Houghton Mifflin in 1994 when the company acquired McDougal, Littell &Company. She was named vice president of McDougal Littell Inc. She was promoted to senior vice president in 1994 and to executive vice president in 1995.
McGee began her career as a high school English teacher. In the early ’80s she was a frequent speaker at conferences and a consultant to schools on computer-based education. In 1982, she joined Tandy Corporation, where she served as director of product development and marketing, educational technology.
She became editorial director of language arts at McDougal, Littell &Company in 1988 and was promoted to editor-in-chief in 1989 and to president in 1991.
McGee received her B.A. and M.A. from the University of Oklahoma. She serves as vice-chair at Seabury-Western Theological Seminar and director of DeVry, Inc. and First Bank and Trust, Evanston, Illinois. She has two children.
Patrick J. McGovern
Chairman of the Board – International Data Group
Patrick McGovern can trace his interest in computers all the way back to his high school years when, he says, he “became fascinated by the concept.” With $20 of his paper-route money, McGovern transformed a computer into a machine that played an unbeatable game of tic-tac-toe — a design which ultimately won him a full scholarship to the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
While still an undergraduate at MIT, McGovern was appointed associate editor of Computers and Automation, the first computer magazine in the U.S., and he became associate publisher in 1959 after his graduation.
By 1964, McGovern had formed International Data Corporation (IDC), a research group, and in 1967, he launched Computerworld newspaper, which became the flagship of the organization’s publishing interests. He then went on to form IDG World Expo, and the three divisions — publishing, research and expositions — now comprise International Data Group (IDG), the world’s leader in information services and technology.
A second-generation Irish American with grandparents from Counties Mayo and Cavan, McGovern is married with four children.
Judy McGrath
President – MTV/M2
Under Judy McGrath’s leadership, MTV has grown from a maverick cable channel to a global brand that has come to symbolize a generation. For McGrath it’s been a labor of love, her love of young people and their music.
She has developed programs and events that have become cultural landmarks to young people everywhere — the Video Music Awards, the MTV Movie Awards, MTV Unplugged and The Real World.
With MTV, McGrath has developed new kinds of pro-social television. MTV’s “Choose or Lose” campaign helped register many young voters and connected them with the issues. The “Free Your Mind” and “Enough Is Enough” campaigns reflected MTV viewers’ concerns about intolerance and violence.
McGrath joined MTV as a writer in the on-air promotions department. She held such positions as editorial director and creative director before becoming president MTV/M2. As president, she runs MTV’s programming, promotion, production, marketing and development.
McGrath sits on the boards of LIFE beat: The Music Industry Fights AIDS, People for the American Way, the New York City Ballet and Rock the Vote.
Terence F. McGuirk
Chairman & CEO – Turner Broadcasting System Inc.
As chairman and chief executive officer of Turner Broadcasting System, a subsidiary of Time Warner, Inc., Terence McGuirk is responsible for overseeing the Turner domestic and international entertainment networks, among them TBS Super-station, Turner Network Television (TNT), Cartoon Network and Turner Classic Movies.
McGuirk joined TBS, Inc. in 1972 as an account executive with WTCG, later TBS Superstation. He is a member of the National Cable Television Association’s (NCTA) satellite network programming committee. He also serves on the board of trustees of the Walter Kaitz Foundation.
A native of Bayshore, New York, he is a graduate of Portsmouth Abbey School and holds a bachelor’s degree in American history from Middlebury College. He serves as chairman of the board of trustees of The Westminster Schools and sits on the board of trustees of Piedmont Hospital Medical Center.
A third-generation Irish American, McGuirk is married with four children.
Judith McHale
President & COO – Discovery Communications, Inc.
For Judith McHale, the core strength of Discovery Communications is “the entrepreneurial and highly creative spirit represented throughout all divisions of the company. Our people have a fundamental passion for our products.”
The president and chief operating officer at Discovery since November 1995, McHale is responsible for overseeing all of the company’s operating business units. The Discovery Channel is distributed in Ireland, through the UK.
A graduate of Fordham Law School, McHale began her legal career with Battle, Fowler in New York. In June 1997, McHale was appointed to the Maryland State Board of Education for a four-year term. She also serves on the board of directors for The Congressional Award Foundation and the board of governors of Grace Episcopal Day School.
McHale was born in New York City and received her undergraduate degree in politics from Britain’s University of Nottingham. She is a second-generation Irish American with roots in County Mayo, and Listowel, County Kerry. She is married with two sons.
Andrew J. McKenna
Chairman & CEO – Schwarz
Headquartered in Morton Grove, Illinois, Schwarz is an international distributor of paper packaging and allied products and also a printer, producer and converter of paper products with facilities in eight states, as well as Canada and the UK.
Andrew McKenna is chairman and chief executive of the company, and also serves as a director of Aon Corporation, Chicago Bears Football Club, Inc., McDonald’s Corporation and the Tribune Company, among others.
He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, with a bachelor of science degree in business administration and marketing. He is also a graduate of DePaul University Law School, where he received his J.D. degree.
A second-generation Irish American with roots on his father’s side in County Monaghan and on his mother’s in County Mayo, McKenna is a director of the American Ireland Fund and a board member of the Irish Fellowship of Chicago. He and his wife, Joan, have seven children and 19 grandchildren.
Michael W.D. McMullen
President – Home Shopping Network
Michael McMullen was born in Belfast and raised in County Down. He attended Portora Royal School in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh (where Oscar Wilde and Samuel Beckett studied) and graduated from Trinity College in Dublin with degrees in business and French.
Upon graduation he joined the marketing department of Proctor &Gamble, Ltd. in England. In 1969 he accepted a key marketing post with Coca-Cola (Japan) Co., Ltd. based in Tokyo.
In 1983, McMullen formed an international consulting company, Michael W.D. McMullen &Associates, Inc., with partners in Atlanta, Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro. Among the firm’s client’s were CNN, Turner International and Bacardi International, Ltd.
He joined the Home Shopping Network in 1993 as president of its international operations. In this role, he directs Home Shopping’s exploration of interactive television opportunities in key international markets.
McMullen is a senior corporate fellow at The Southern Center for International Studies and board member of The Japan-America Society of Georgia.
Scott G. McNealy
Chairman, President & CEO – Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Sun Microsystems, a company which Scott McNealy helped to found in 1982, is the quintessential Silicon Valley success story. In just 16 years, the company has become the leading global supplier of networked computer systems, and for more than a decade, McNealy has been advancing Sun’s vision and slogan — “The network is the computer.”
The company is listed in the Fortune 500, and was described by Fortune as the best qualified company to “seed the growth of the Internet.” According to Business Week, Sun Microsystems “can claim to be the only pure play in the business.”
The Wall Street Journal says the California computer company “has long been praised for its accomplished, if cocky, management team and a history of innovation.” This is mainly attributable to Java, says the Journal, the computer language that Sun is pushing to challenge Microsoft.
McNealy is a native of Columbus, Indiana, and graduated Harvard with a degree in economics. He also earned an M.B.A. at Stanford University and is married with two young sons.
Editor’s Note: This list was originally published in the November / December 1998 issue of Irish America. ⬥
Leave a Reply