Philip R. O’Connor, PhD (JFRC ’68–’69, BA ’70)
2014's Spirit of Felice Award Winner
Phil O’Connor is the president of PROactive Strategies, Inc. and a recognized expert in competitive solutions for the insurance and utility industries. Prior to his lengthy private sector career, he served as Chairman of the Illinois Commerce Commission and as Illinois Director of Insurance. He has been appointed to various boards and commissions by five consecutive Illinois governors. From March 2007 to March 2008, Phil served in the US Embassy in Baghdad as an advisor to the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity.
Dr. O’Connor, after receiving his bachelor’s degree from Loyola University Chicago in 1970, earned master’s and doctoral degrees in political science from Northwestern University. His time at the John Felice Rome Center (1968–69) further fueled a passion for history, particularly of World War II. Motivated to educate Rome Center students about the Italian campaign he published a 46-page guide called A Loyola Rome Student’s Guide to World War II in Rome & Italy. Each semester over the past decade, Phil and fellow Rome Center alum Jim Centner, Cdr USN Ret. (JFRC ’66–’67), have conducted World War II instructional tours for Rome Center students.
Phil and his wife, Lynn, have been generous supporters of the Rome Center, particularly of the Insieme per il Futuro campaign. They have funded a teaching kitchen in honor of Phil’s close friend and Baghdad officemate, Terry Barnich, a former Chairman of the Illinois Commerce Commission, who was killed in 2009 while serving with US State Department in Iraq—as well as a classroom dedicated to five Loyolans among the Greatest Generation who died fighting in Italy during World War II: Private John Joseph Burke, Lieutenant John Leo Carmody, Lieutenant Kenneth Elmer Krucks, Lieutenant Dean Philip Reinert, and Private Thomas Anthony McKitrick. Dr. O’Connor hopes that Rome Center students will be inspired by the memory and sacrifice of those who have given their lives to assure the freedom of thought and faith to which Loyola and the John Felice Rome Center are dedicated.
Phil O’Connor is the president of PROactive Strategies, Inc. and a recognized expert in competitive solutions for the insurance and utility industries. Prior to his lengthy private sector career, he served as Chairman of the Illinois Commerce Commission and as Illinois Director of Insurance. He has been appointed to various boards and commissions by five consecutive Illinois governors. From March 2007 to March 2008, Phil served in the US Embassy in Baghdad as an advisor to the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity.
Dr. O’Connor, after receiving his bachelor’s degree from Loyola University Chicago in 1970, earned master’s and doctoral degrees in political science from Northwestern University. His time at the John Felice Rome Center (1968–69) further fueled a passion for history, particularly of World War II. Motivated to educate Rome Center students about the Italian campaign he published a 46-page guide called A Loyola Rome Student’s Guide to World War II in Rome & Italy. Each semester over the past decade, Phil and fellow Rome Center alum Jim Centner, Cdr USN Ret. (JFRC ’66–’67), have conducted World War II instructional tours for Rome Center students.
Phil and his wife, Lynn, have been generous supporters of the Rome Center, particularly of the Insieme per il Futuro campaign. They have funded a teaching kitchen in honor of Phil’s close friend and Baghdad officemate, Terry Barnich, a former Chairman of the Illinois Commerce Commission, who was killed in 2009 while serving with US State Department in Iraq—as well as a classroom dedicated to five Loyolans among the Greatest Generation who died fighting in Italy during World War II: Private John Joseph Burke, Lieutenant John Leo Carmody, Lieutenant Kenneth Elmer Krucks, Lieutenant Dean Philip Reinert, and Private Thomas Anthony McKitrick. Dr. O’Connor hopes that Rome Center students will be inspired by the memory and sacrifice of those who have given their lives to assure the freedom of thought and faith to which Loyola and the John Felice Rome Center are dedicated.