Sir Frederick Brian Corby (10 May 1929 – 23 April 2009) was a British businessman who held a variety of positions on the boards of important industrial, artistic and education organisations. He was the first chancellor of the University of Hertfordshire. He was the chairman of the Prudential Corporation and the first representative of the insurance industry to serve as president of the

Confederation of British Industry The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) is a UK business organisation, which in total claims to speak for 190,000 businesses, this is made up of around 1,500 direct members and 188,500 non-members. The non members are represented through the 1 ...

Early Years and Education

Frederick Brian Corby was born in 1929 near

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

, where his father worked in the city's traditional shoe trade. Corby was educated at

Kimbolton School Kimbolton School is a British HMC co-educational independent day and boarding school in the rural village of Kimbolton, Cambridgeshire, England. There are 1000 students, aged 4 to 18. Boarding and flexi-boarding is available to a limited ...

and went up to

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

to read Mathematics after national service in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

. On graduation in 1952 he joined the

actuary An actuary is a business professional who deals with the measurement and management of risk and uncertainty. The name of the corresponding field is actuarial science. These risks can affect both sides of the balance sheet and require asset man ...

's office of the Prudential, spending most of his career – apart from a secondment to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

from 1958 to 1962 – in its head office at

Holborn Holborn ( or ) is a district in central London, which covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part ( St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London. The area has its roots ...

. He became a general manager in 1976 and chief actuary in 1980.

Career

In 1990, he was elected president of the

(CBI), where his two-year tenure coincided with a period of recession and very high borrowing costs which caused great pain for the CBI's membership. Corby urged

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, and as Member of Parliament ...

's government to slash interest rates to speed recovery, but the response from

10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London, also known colloquially in the United Kingdom as Number 10, is the official residence and executive office of the first lord of the treasury, usually, by convention, the prime minister of the United Kingdom. Along wi ...

was that his members would have to "be patient". Corby was a member of the Court of the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...

from 1985 to 1993, chairman of the Association of British Insurers, president of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research and vice-president of the Institute of Actuaries. He was chairman from 1990 to 1998 of the

Southbank Centre Southbank Centre is a complex of artistic venues in London, England, on the South Bank of the River Thames (between Hungerford Bridge and Waterloo Bridge). It comprises three main performance venues (the Royal Festival Hall including the Nat ...

, which he defended robustly against accusations that it was "technically insolvent" and could be saved only by privatisation. An enthusiast for European cooperation, he contributed to work in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

on the development of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

internal market, and chaired a number of study groups on European business issues for the Federal Trust.

Personal life

Brian Corby was knighted in 1989. In retirement he enjoyed golf, gardening and reading history. He married, in 1952, Elizabeth (Beth) McInnes, with whom he had a son and two daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Corby, Brian 1929 births 2009 deaths Chancellors of the University of Hertfordshire People from Northamptonshire Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Businesspeople awarded knighthoods Knights Bachelor Military personnel from Northamptonshire Royal Air Force airmen 20th-century Royal Air Force personnel