Gregory T. Doyle
President, Domestic Insurance
Company Operations
American Re-Insurance Company
Revenue: $3 billion
Employees: approx. 1,500
Gregory T. Doyle’s paternal grandfather came to this country from Ireland in the early part of the century and, in Doyle’s words, “worked many long, hard and proud years as a New York City fireman.”
Doyle has carried on his family’s tradition of hard work and success. In his 14-year tenure at American Re-Insurance, he has moved up through the treaty department, where he was the senior vice president responsible for Eastern region treaty operations before being named president of domestic insurance company operations (DICO) in November of 1997. As president of DICO, Doyle oversees American Re’s reinsurance business with U.S.-based insurance companies. He is also a member of American Re’s board of management.
In spite of his success, Doyle remains humble, and believes, “We learn more about ourselves from our failures than from our successes.”
A graduate of Hamilton College, New York with a B.S. in government, Doyle also earned the chartered property casualty underwriter designation in 1989. He is married and lives in New Jersey.
James A. Dwyer
President &Managing Partner
Wireless One Network, Inc.
Revenue: $150 million
Employees: 490 plus
Since 1987, Jim 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 that provides technical services. He is a member of the New York Bar, the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association and the Radio Club of America.
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.
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. He 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.
Katherine Dwyer
President
Revlon Consumer Products, USA
Revenue: $2.2 billion
Employees: 17,000
Kathy Dwyer was appointed president of Revlon consumer Products, USA in January 1998. She had been president of 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 increasing responsibility with the Gillette Company from 1976 to 1985. Prior to joining Gillette, she was an accountant with Price Waterhouse.
Dwyer holds a B.A. in psychology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and an M.B.A. in finance and organizational behavior from Boston University.
A second-generation Irish American with roots in Counties Clare, Cork and Antrim, she 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 Corporation
Revenue: $4 billion
Employees: 12,000
For Richard Egan, the founder of EMC Corporation — a designer and manufacturer of computer storage products — the key to success is a simple rule: “The harder we work, the luckier we get.”
It’s a rule that is golden for Egan, and his drive and dedication were rewarded in 1994, when EMC Corp. was ranked as a Fortune 500 company, just eight years after he brought the company public.
In a 1994 interview with Entrepreneur magazine, Egan admitted: “It seems like I’m always working. And when I’m not physically here, I’m thinking about it.”
Born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, Egan graduated from Northeastern University with a degree in engineering and began his career in 1961 at Honeywell’s data processing division as an engineer specializing in computer storage systems.
He subsequently held positions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he earned a graduate degree; the Lockheed Electronics Company; Cambridge Memories, Inc., which he co-founded; and Intel.
Egan’s ancestors hail from County Westmeath, and EMC Corporation has an Irish subsidiary in Cork, with over 1,000 employees. Egan is a member of The American Ireland Fund and is married with five children.
William F. Farley
Chairman
Fruit of the Loom, Inc.
Total Revenue: $2.1 billion in sales
Total Employees: 33,500
William F. Farley turned a $25,000 investment into a series of acquisitions, culminating in his $1.4 billion purchase of Northwest Industries in 1985. In 1986 he purchased Fruit of the Loom, Inc., and as chairman he has built the company into an industry giant of family apparel.
His achievements in business have earned him such awards as the White House’s Presidential Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence and the American Academy of Achievement’s Golden Plate Award. He was most recently awarded the Ireland-U.S. Council for Commerce and Industry’s Annual Outstanding Achievement Award for his efforts to improve economic, business and commercial links between Ireland and the United States.
The holder of a Juris Doctor from Boston College Law School, Farley received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from his undergraduate alma mater, Bowdoin College. He is a member of numerous organizations including The American Ireland Fund and also sits on many boards, including the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations. Farley’s fourth-generation Irish lineage is traced on his father’s side to Cavan. He resides in Chicago and is married with three sons.♦
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