In Memoriam: John F. McGillicuddy
Former Chairman and CEO of Chemical, Manufacturers Hanover
Alumni are invited to share their recollections of John F. McGillicuddy by writing to news@chasealum.org.
John F. McGillicuddy, who, as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Manufacturers Hanover, helped engineer its 1991 merger with Chemical Bank, died January 4, 2009 at his home in Harrison, NY. He was 78 and had suffered from prostate cancer.
After the merger, Mr. McGillicuddy was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Chemical Banking Corporation and its flagship subsidiary, Chemical Bank. The bank merged with the Chase Manhattan Corporation in 1996, and both were absorbed by J.P. Morgan in 2000.
Mr. McGillicuddy went to Princeton -- where he played on the undefeated 1950 and 1951 football teams -- and Harvard Law School. After a stint in the Navy and at the law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, he joined Manufacturers Trust Company in 1958. Three years later, the bank merged with The Hanover Bank to form Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company. He was appointed to Manufacturers Hanover’s General Administrative Board in 1969 and in 1970 was named Vice Chairman of the Board of Manufacturers Hanover Corporation and Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company. Mr. McGillicuddy was elected President of both organizations in 1971 and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in 1979.
Mr. McGillicuddy he was Chairman Emeritus of New York-Presbyterian Foundation, Inc., Chairman Emeritus and Life Trustee of New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Member of the Board of Governors of New York-Presbyterian Healthcare System, President of the Boy Scouts of America, Greater New York Councils, a Life Member of The Salvation Army of Greater New York’s Advisory Board, an Honorary Trustee of the New York Public Library, Trustee Emeritus of Princeton University, director Emeritus of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame, Trustee of the Inner-City Scholarship Fund, director of The Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation, and a member of the Finance Council of the Archdiocese of New York.
In addition, Mr. McGillicuddy was a director of AMF Incorporated, Cities Service Company, The Continental Corporation, Kraft, Inc., Reynolds Metals Company, The Sperry and Hutchinson Company, Southern Peru Copper Corporation, UAL Corporation, United States Steel Corporation, WellChoice, Inc., Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Young & Rubicam, Inc., Hunter Roberts Construction Group and Kelso & Company.
He is survived by his wife, Constance, to whom he was married for over 50 years, five children and six grandchildren.