Just two years after earning his PhD, NPRE alumnus Michael J. Giacobbe III looked for ways to give back to his home Department. He’s been doing so ever since.
Cited for “dedicated leadership in the grassroots efforts to build NPRE endowments, thereby promoting NPRE programs, honoring NPRE’s faculty and staff, inspiring fellow alumni, and rewarding outstanding students,” Giacobbe, BS 91, MS 95, PhD 99, is the 2014 winner of the NPRE Advocate Award.
“Mike and several of his friends from his student days have paved the way for many of our endowed funds, and it’s a real plus having these awards to recognize our excellent students,” said NPRE Department Head Jim Stubbins. “I am proud of Mike and am grateful for the way he’s giving back to NPRE.”
In 2000, Giacobbe, Managing Director of Aon Global Risk Consulting, in Chicago, led an alumni effort to establish and build support for NPRE’s Catherine Pritchard Scholarship Fund. Along with fellow NPRE alumni Terrill and Debbie Laughton, Giacobbe followed that endeavor with raising funds Bfor the Barclay G. Jones Endowed Fellowship Fund, the first fellowship held entirely within NPRE. A member for many years of NPRE’s alumni group, the Constituent Alumni and Industry Advisory Board, Giacobbe helped rally the board to create the NPRE Leadership Speaker Series (with Terrilll and Debbie’s leadership), with the first nationally-known speaker expected in Fall 2014. He also is working to increase the endowment for the Roy A. Axford Scholarship Fund.
“My experience in NPRE – with my advisor, Jim Stubbins, other faculty like Roy Axford and Barclay Jones, my Argonne colleagues, and my student colleagues – had a significant impact on my development as an individual and professional,” Giacobbe said. “By supporting the department in establishing NPRE specific funds, I felt I could do a small part in helping sustain and even enhance this type of educational experience for future students and researchers. The funds are important, as they elevate the profile of the department and do a small part in attracting the top talent and performers to the program.”
He continued, “My education in NPRE helped in the areas of creativity, innovation, and critical thinking. The degrees have provided me with credibility in the business world for this critical thinking, and the journey to achieve them drove me to develop the core skills to build valuable analytics and assessment platforms for how our clients manage risk.”
While at Aon, Giacobbe has worked in an advisory role with more than 100 clients including organizations in the following sectors: global upstream/downstream oil and gas, energy services, coal and hard rock mining, electric and natural gas utilities, life sciences, retail, agriculture and food, technology, automotive, manufacturing, healthcare, and financial institutions.
He was appointed head of the Business Development Team for Aon Global Risk Consulting in July of 2009, and is responsible for leading and coordinating the new business initiatives of Risk Consulting; Risk Control, Claims & Engineering; and Captive Management divisions of the group. Additionally, Giacobbe also serves as part of the leadership team for Aon Global Risk Consulting in the Americas, where he leads the coordination of Growth and Client strategies.
Giacobbe was presented with the University of Illinois Alumni Association’s 2008 Loyalty Award, presented to alumni who have made significant, notable and meritorious contributions, and who have consistently demonstrated exceptional loyalty, commitment, dedication and service to the University of Illinois Alumni Association.