James F. Lyons
President &CEO
GenRad, Inc.
Revenue: $300 million
Employees: 1,500
“Being Irish has been my sine qua non for success,” states James F. Lyons, and success certainly seems to follow him wherever he goes. His appointment in 1993 as president and chief executive officer of GenRad proved to be a harbinger of better times to come for the company.
After nine consecutive years of operating losses, GenRad achieved profitability that same year and has continued to reflect a more than doubling of profits through the current calendar quarter. Over the last four years, sales have increased at an annual rate of 20 percent and net income has increased in excess of 75 percent annually. GenRad is currently planning a subsidiary in Dublin.
Prior to joining GenRad, Lyons was president and chief executive officer of Harry Gray Associates, an investment banking and management consulting organization with headquarters in Connecticut and Florida.
A second-generation Irish American, born in Buffalo, New York, Lyons earned his undergraduate degree from Canisius College and an MBA from Harvard University. He also holds an honorary doctorate from Canisius College.
Lyons has been a lecturer at Harvard Business School, MIT’s Sloan School of Management, Carnegie Mellon, and the RPI Graduate Center. He is currently writing a book about his business experiences over the last 40 years placing emphasis on the value of a liberal arts education.
Lyons lives with his wife of 38 years, Judith Katherine, and their four children in Simsbury, Connecticut. His father’s family were from County Cork and his mother’s from County Clare.
David Mahoney
Co-CEO
McKesson HBOC, Inc.
Revenue: $30 billion
Employees: 24,500
David Mahoney is co-chief executive officer of McKesson HBOC, Inc. He has overall responsibility for such corporate strategic functions as finance, human resources, information technology, strategic planning and corporate development. He is also responsible for two major operating groups: Pharmaceutical Partners Group and McKesson Water Products Company, the third largest bottled water business in the U.S.
Prior to his current position, Mahoney was responsible for McKesson HBOC’s strategic relationships with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Medis Health and Pharmaceutical Services, the leading pharmaceutical distributor in Canada, also reported to him.
Prior to joining McKesson, he was a principal with McKinsey &Company in San Francisco. He was also a director of Cytel Corporation from 1996 to 1999 and a director of Armor All Corporation from 1992 to 1996.
Mahoney graduated with honors from Princeton University with a degree in English and earned an M.B.A. from Harvard University. He is a third-generation Irish American — both his mother and father’s families come from County Cork. He is married with two children.
Michael J. McCabe
Senior Vice President and General Counsel
Allstate Insurance Company
Revenue: $25 billion
Employees: 54,000
A Juris Doctor graduate of Columbus School of Law at Catholic University of America, Mick McCabe joined Allstate Insurance Company in 1971 as legislative counsel. In his near 30 years tenure at Allstate, McCabe has distinguished himself as a company leader through numerous and prestigious promotions.
In 1994, after assuming the responsibility for the company’s claim core and process redesign project, he was elected senior vice president of Allstate’s property-casualty claim service. He was elected senior vice president of marketing and brand development in 1997 and assumed his current position as senior vice president and general counsel in January 1999.
Allstate is a giant of the insurance industry, serving more than 14 million households in the U.S. and Canada. In addition to participating in the immense growth of Allstate as a company and a household name, McCabe has served on many industry and government task forces and advisory committees related to insurance regulation and is a member of both the District of Columbia and the American Bar Associations.
Born and raised in Denver, Colorado, McCabe is married with two kids. He traces second-generation Irish roots on his father’s side to Leitrim and third-generation Irish roots on his mother’s side to Cork.
James McCann
President 1-800-FLOWERS.COM
Revenue: $290 million, approx.
Employees: 1,600
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 23 years ago.
A former social worker, the 48-year-old McCann soon managed to turn his single retail outlet into 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, the world’s best-known florist. Today, 1-800-FLOWERS.COM reaches its customers in a variety of ways including its toll-free telephone number, the Internet, and through its more than 120 stores.
McCann is well-known on the corporate speaking circuit where he has earned a reputation as an innovative marketer and an entertaining speaker.
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.♦
Leave a Reply