Business Achievement Award Recipients - 2007
James J. Maguire
Chairman and Founder, Philadelphia Consolidated Holding Company
Nominated by: Saint Joseph’s University
 James
J. Maguire, Sr. is Chairman and founder of Philadelphia Consolidated
Holding Corporation, a corporation with assets in excess of $2
billion. In 1980, Maguire formed the company, which today owns
four subsidiaries – Maguire Insurance Agency, Inc., an insurance
marketing company licensed in all U.S. states; Philadelphia Insurance
Company, approved to write surplus lines insurance in 40 states;
Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Company, its flagship company,
licensed to write property and casualty insurance in all U.S.
states; and Liberty American Insurance Group, a holding company
for two personal lines insurance companies domiciled in Florida
with licenses in 10 additional states.
In total, the insurance companies have 36 offices and approximately 1000 employees in all major markets across the U.S. from Maine to Hawaii. Collectively and individually, they are rated A+ (superior) by A.M. Best Company, the principal U.S. rating agency for insurance companies. Only 5 percent of the 3,350 U.S. insurance companies enjoy this superior rating.
A veteran of the Korean War, Maguire was drafted into the military following his sophomore year at Saint Joseph’s University. After his tour of duty, Maguire returned to St. Joseph’s, graduating in 1958. Upon graduation, Maguire started working for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. Within 18 months, Maguire left to start his own company—the Maguire Insurance Agency. Early in his career, he showed a flair for niche marketing when he learned sign language to market life insurance to the deaf community in the Delaware Valley.
Under Maguire’s leadership, the company has not only succeeded in the marketplace, it has given back to the community. His company was active in Philadelphia Futures, a mentoring program for underprivileged intercity high school students. This participation funded five students who attended Saint Joseph ‘s University.
Other major non-profit programs which he and his company support and sponsor include the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, Mercy Vocational High School where they underwrite the business education program and participate in the school’s co-op program, and St. Vincent ‘s Shelter, a soup kitchen and summer camp for underprivileged children.
Maguire is a member of the Board of Managers for Beneficial Savings Bank and a past manager of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee for Pennsylvania Insurance Federation. He was the first lay Chairman of the Board of Cabrini College and past Vice Chairman of the Board of Saint Joseph’s University where he chaired the capital campaign that built the University’s Chapel dedicated in 1992.
Most recently, Maguire contributed $10 million toward Saint Joseph’s University’s purchase of the Episcopal Academy, an adjoining property, which will virtually double the size of the school’s campus.
Gerald W. Schlief
Senior Vice President, ATP Oil and Gas Corporation
Nominated by: Stephen F. Austin State University
 Since 1993, Gerald W. Schlief has served as Senior Vice President of ATP Oil & Gas Corporation, an offshore oil and gas development and production company operating in the Gulf of Mexico and the North Sea.
The company pioneered the use of offshore horizontal drilling in 1995 and, in 1999, was presented Oil and Gas World’s Best Field Improvement Award for technological advancement. That same year, ATP ranked 21st on the Inc. 500 list of privately held companies most rapidly changing the face of American business. ATP became a public company in 2001.
As Senior Vice President, Schlief is primarily responsible for ATP’s acquisitions, particularly the purchase of offshore properties believed to contain oil and gas reserves. During 2006, ATP acquired an interest in eight blocks of offshore property in the Gulf of Mexico and one block in the North Sea.
Prior to joining ATP, Schlief served in a variety of capacities within the oil and gas industry. From 1984 to 1990, Schlief served as Vice President, Offshore Land for Plumb Oil Company, and its successor Harbert Energy Corporation, where he managed the acquisition of interests in over 35 offshore properties. From 1983 to 1984, Schlief served as Offshore Land Consultant for Huffco Petroleum Corporation. He served as Treasurer and Landman for Huthnance Energy Corporation from 1981 to 1983. In addition, from 1974 to 1978, Schlief conducted audits of oil and gas companies for Arthur Andersen & Co., and from 1978 to 1981, he conducted audits of oil and gas companies for Spicer & Oppenheim.
A 1970 accounting graduate of Stephen F. Austin State University, Schlief is a Certified Public Accountant andearned his MBA with a major in Finance from the University of Utah.
Schlief has made significant contributions to his alma mater, Stephen F. Austin State University, including a gift of $2 million that will create the Gerald W. Schlief Department of Accounting.
Dmitri Stockton
President and CEO, GE Money, Central and Eastern Europe
Nominated by: North Carolina A&T State University
 Dmitri Stockton has spent practically his entire career with General Electric Company and its subsidiaries. Since joining the company in 1987, Stockton has contributed to the growth and development of the business units he has been associated with. He has been in his current position, Chief Executive Officer of GE Consumer Finance – Central and Eastern Europe, since January 2005.
With approximately $9 billion in assets and over $1.2 billion in revenues, this is the largest banking platform for GE Consumer Finance in Europe. Stockton leads approximately 8,000 people in the region, spanning countries that include Russia, Poland, Hungary, The Czech Republic and Slovakia. He is charged with expanding retail banking for this business and entering other markets such as Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and the Ukraine via acquisition.
Stockton, a graduate of North Carolina A&T State University, began his career with GE in 1987 when he was accepted into the prestigious GE Financial Management Program. He has subsequently advanced through positions of greater responsibility with the company. Stockton became the chief risk officer of GE Mortgage Corporation in 1997, senior vice president for marketing and business development at GE Mortgage Insurance in 1999, and senior vice president for New Growth Initiatives in 2001.
Immediately prior to his current role, Stockton was CEO for GE Capital Bank in Switzerland where he devised strategies to increase revenues from $262 to $475 million over a three-year period. He also led the effort to complete an acquisition in the Auto Finance space that contributed to increasing the business’s market share in the segment by 15 percent. During his tenure, his business was globally recognized for efforts in Cross-sell, Compliance, Diversity and Employer of Choice Initiatives.
Despite the numerous duties of being a CEO, Stockton remains affiliated with prominent organizations. His professional and civic involvements in such organizations as the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce and GE Elfun Volunteers is evidence of his commitment to provide self development and support for a sense of ethical, social, and public responsibility.
Past Business Achievement Award Recipients
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