St. John’s Names Lloyd’s Exec Watkins to Head Greenberg Risk Management School

New York’s St. John’s University announced the appointment of Henry “Hank” Watkins Jr., regional director and president of the Americas at Lloyd’s, as executive director and associate dean of the Maurice R. Greenberg School of Risk Management, Insurance and Actuarial Science (GSRM) at The Peter J. Tobin College of Business.

Watkins will assume his role on November 1, replacing Brandon W. Sweitzer, who has served as dean of the Greenberg School since 2011 and who is retiring from the position.

Watkins, after 15 years at Lloyd’s Americas, announced last month he would be leaving to pursue other opportunities.

A graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, Watkins served in client management and leadership positions at Chubb, Johnson & Higgins, Marsh, and HRH before joining Lloyd’s in 2009. He has more than 43 years of experience in the global property/casualty insurance industry.

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In addition to his responsibilities at Lloyd’s, Watkins serves as a member of GSRM’s board of overseers, and the boards of the Insurance Federation of New York, Inc. and the BritishAmerican Business trade association. He is immediate past chair of the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation and has served as an Elder at Wilton Presbyterian Church in Wilton, Conn.

Sweitzer first joined the board of trustees of the College of Insurance in 1998. His contributions to St. John’s include the establishment of the Global Destination Course study-abroad program in 2014; the first annual Insurance Regulation Conference in 2012; and the Graduate Leadership Course in 2020. Sweitzer has raised more than $50 million in gifts, most notably The Starr Foundation endowment of $15 million in 2018, and has been a donor to GSRM and to St. John’s.

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The Maurice R. Greenberg School of Risk Management, Insurance and Actuarial Science (GSRM) was initially formed as the Insurance Society of New York in 1901. It became the School of Insurance in 1947 and the College of Insurance (TCI) in 1962. GSRM evolved from the merger of TCI and St. John’s University in 2001. The academic programs, faculty, student services, and library are located at 101 Astor Place in Manhattan.

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St. John’s University is a private, Roman Catholic university, with its main campus located in Queens, New York. St. John’s University is comprised of six schools and colleges, including the College of Professional Studies, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, College of Business (including the GSRM), and the School off Law.

As of Fall 2023, the university has more than 1,400 full-time and part-time faculty; almost 16,000 undergraduate students; and 3,992 graduate students.

Photo: Hank Watkins

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