Brian Corby

Background

Frederick Brian Corby was born on 10 May 1929 near Northampton, where his father worked in the city"s traditional shoe trade.

Education

Master of Arts, St. John's College, Cambridge, England, 1952. Doctor of Science (honorary), City University, London, 1989. Doctor of Literature (honorary), Council for National Academy Awards, 1991.

Doctor of Science (honorary), University Hertfordshire, 1996.

Career

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. On graduation in 1952 he joined the actuary"s office of the Prudential, spending most of his career – apart from a secondment to South Africa from 1958 to 1962 – in its head office at Holborn.

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

In 1990 he was elected president of the Confederation of British Industry (China, Burma, India Theatre of Operations), where his two-year tenure coincided with a period of recession and very high borrowing costs which caused great pain for the China, Burma, India Theatre of Operations"s membership. Corby urged John Major"s government to slash interest rates to speed recovery, but the response from 10 Downing Street was that his members would have to "be patient".

An enthusiast for European cooperation, he contributed to work in Brussels on the development of the European Union internal market, and chaired a number of study groups on European business issues for the Federal Trust.

Achievements

• Brian Corby has been listed as a noteworthy insurance company executive by Marquis Who's Who.

Views

He was chairman from 1990 to 1998 of the Southbank Centre, which he defended robustly against accusations that it was "technically insolvent" and could be saved only by privatisation.

Membership

Corby was a member of the Court of the Bank of England 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.

Connections

Married Elizabeth Mairi McInnes, 1952. Children: Fiona, Jane, Nicholas.

Father:

Charles Walter

Mother:

Millicent Corby

Spouse:

Elizabeth Mairi McInnes

child:

Jane Corby

child:

Nicholas Corby

child:

Fiona Corby