James Joseph Schiro (January 2, 1946 – August 13, 2014) was an American businessman who became CEO of PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Zurich Financial Services and was a director of number of multinational companies including of

PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the manuf ...

, Philips and

Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...

Early life

James J. Schiro was born on January 2, 1946, in Brooklyn, New York. Schiro was an Italian-American of the Catholic faith. He received a Bachelor of Science from

St. John's University St John's University may refer to: *St. John's University (New York City) **St. John's University School of Law **St. John's University (Italy) - Overseas Campus *College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University, St. Joseph, Minnesota and Col ...

in New York City in 1967, and an MBA from the

Tuck School of Business The Tuck School of Business (also known as Tuck, and formally known as the Amos Tuck School of Administration and Finance) is the graduate business school of Dartmouth College, a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Founded in ...

at Dartmouth College.Ellis Island Medals of Honor
He was a

Certified Public Accountant Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is the title of qualified accountants in numerous countries in the English-speaking world. It is generally equivalent to the title of chartered accountant in other English-speaking countries. In the United Sta ...

Career

In 1967, he joined Price Waterhouse and worked in various managerial positions. In 1994, he became Chairman of the Board and senior partner. In 1998, after the merger of Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand, he became CEO of PricewaterhouseCoopers.Peter Lattman
Goldman Announces Changes to Its Board
'' The New York Times'', April 2, 2012 From 2002 to 2006, he served as the CEO of Zurich Financial Services. He served on the Boards of Directors of

, Philips,

and REVA Medical. He served on the board of the

Geneva Association ''Insurance Economics'' is a research programme set up by the Geneva Association, also known as the International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics. It is dedicated to making an original contribution to the progress of insurance thr ...

, where he was involved with the

International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics ''Insurance Economics'' is a research programme set up by the Geneva Association, also known as the International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics. It is dedicated to making an original contribution to the progress of insurance thro ...

, and he was a member of the European Financial Services Roundtable. He also sat on the Board of Trustees of the Institute for Advanced Study, on the Business Council of the World Economic Forum and on the Board of Directors of Initiative for a Competitive Inner City. He was the former Chairman of the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce, and the Vice Chairman of the American Friends of Lucerne Festival. He was a member of the Independence Standards Board of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and the New York State Society of Public Accountants. He served as Treasurer and Executive Committee member of the

United States Council for International Business The United States Council for International Business (USCIB) is an independent business advocacy group that was founded in 1945 to promote free trade and help represent U.S. business in the then-new United Nations. One of its primary goals is expand ...

, the British-North American Committee, the Tri-State United Way Board of Governors, and Board member of the United States-China Business Council.

Honors and politics

He served on the Board of Trustees of his alma mater, St. John's University, and on the Advisory Board of the

Tsinghua School of Economics and Management Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management (abbreviation: Tsinghua SEM; Chinese: 清华大学经济管理学院, ''qīng huá dà xué jīng jì guǎn lǐ xué yuàn ''), is the business school of Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. ...

in Beijing. He received the Avenue of the Americas Association's Gold Key Award in 1992, the

Ellis Island Medal of Honor The Ellis Island Medal of Honor is an American award founded by the Ellis Island Honors Society (EIHS) (formerly known as the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations (NECO)), which is presented annually to American citizens, both native-born a ...

in 1994, and the

American Jewish Committee The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is a Jewish advocacy group established on November 11, 1906. It is one of the oldest Jewish advocacy organizations and, according to ''The New York Times'', is "widely regarded as the dean of American Jewish org ...

's National Human Relations Award in 1997. A Republican, he supported

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...

for President in 2000 and 2008, and

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

in 2004. He supported Al D'Amato and

Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 198 ...

Personal life

He was married to Tomasina Schiro, and they have two children, Justine and James Jr. He died in Princeton, New Jersey on August 13, 2014, of

multiple myeloma Multiple myeloma (MM), also known as plasma cell myeloma and simply myeloma, is a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell that normally produces antibodies. Often, no symptoms are noticed initially. As it progresses, bone pain, an ...

. He was 68 years old.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schiro, James J. 1946 births 2014 deaths Deaths from multiple myeloma in the United States American corporate directors 20th-century American Jews Directors of Goldman Sachs Directors of Philips Businesspeople from Brooklyn PepsiCo people PwC people St. John's University (New York City) alumni Trustees of the Institute for Advanced Study Tuck School of Business alumni 21st-century American Jews