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Philip Ogilvie Sheridan (-2020)

Areas of Interest

Education, Business

Honorary Award

Honorary Fellow, 2003

Biography

Philip Sheridan served as a member of the Board of Governors of our University from 1991 to 2000, with special responsibility as Chairman of the Audit and Compliance Committee. Before he retired, he was General Manager International and main Board member of the Norwich Union Group. He served at different times as a Council Member on Norwich and Waveney Chamber of Commerce, Chairman of Governors of Norwich City College, and President of the Institute of Management (Norfolk and Norwich). Philip was the Director of XL Group, an American Insurer and reinsurer, Chaired the Audit Committee and also served as Non-Executive Director for several companies.

In 2003 Philip Ogilvie Sheridan was made an Honorary Fellow of our University.



Citation

"The Senate of Anglia Polytechnic University has great pleasure in recommending the award of an Honorary Fellowship of the University to Philip Ogilvie Sheridan, FCII (known universally as Phil) doyen of the international insurance industry and serving in executive roles in a plethora of local and regional organizations, as well as serving for eleven years as a Member of the Board of Governors and Chairman of the Audit & Compliance Committee at Anglia Polytechnic University.

Phil was born in Dundee, Scotland and was educated at Morgan Academy, Dundee. After school he started work with the Norwich Union Insurance Group. He rose to the post of General Manager International on the main board of Norwich Union Group. In this role he was a Director of fifty three companies around the world with capital employed, at that time, of over £1 billion. He was Chairman of two insurance groups owned by the major insurance companies within the UK: Aviation & General and Airclaims Limited and a Director of Norwich Winterthur Reinsurance Corporation Limited.

Meanwhile, Phil moved on from the Norwich Union Group, was elected a Fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute, nominated a Chartered Insurer and then appointed to new posts of financial responsibility and challenge. He spent five years as Chairman at Mirror Group Pensions, serving also as Chairman of the Investment Committee. In this key role he spent much time and energy recovering lost assets from international banks, accountancy firms and other financial organizations, to ensure a more secure future for Mirror pensioners and active staff members. Also, whilst in this post, Phil acted as Chief Negotiator for a team involved in mediation events, one before Lord Hurd and the other before the senior Law Lord, Lord Griffiths.

Phil has also served as Director of a major Swiss insurance and finance organization Winterthur International Group, Director of XL Insurance and recently has been invited to Chair another of XL's companies abroad. Phil is also a former Chairman of Chiyoda Europe (a major Japanese insurance group) and former Director of the Congregational & General Insurance Company.

He has also made significant contributions to public life in the community: serving as Council Member at the Norfolk and Waveney Chamber of Commerce; he was involved for many years, including serving as Chairman of the Board of Governors, at Norwich City College (where he managed the College through its transition from Local Authority control to Incorporation, its restructuring of the senior management team, its appointment of the Principal and served as a Trustee on the College Charitable Trust); he served successively as Member, Chairman and President of the Norfolk and Norwich Institute of Management and was a Regional and National Council representative and he served as a Member of the Board of Governors of APU, with additional responsibility in the role of Chairman of Audit and Compliance.

Men and women of competence, integrity and wisdom from the community are a vitally important resource upon which this University relies heavily, as volunteers to serve as Members on its Board of Governors. The Governors are leaders within the University, role models in the community and bearers of great responsibility in the world-at-large. Therefore, we are grateful to Phil Sheridan for his eleven years of devoted service to Anglia Polytechnic University.

It is for these reasons, therefore, that I invite you, Vice Chancellor, to confer on Philip Ogilvie Sheridan, FCII, an Honorary Fellowship of this University."