The Wagner College community is mourning a former trustees chairman who devoted much of his life to bettering his alma mater and his community.
Robert C. “Bob” O’Brien (’66, Hon.’95) died June 17 at age 81. A Staten Island native, he earned his B.S. in economics from Wagner while working full-time at St. Michael’s Home for Children. After graduating, he volunteered for the U.S. Army and was commissioned a lieutenant, serving as a rifle platoon leader in Vietnam, where he was wounded in combat and awarded the Purple Heart among other decorations.
After his Army service, Mr. O’Brien launched a 55-year career in finance. He started at Bankers Trust Co., as a management trainee at a local branch and rose to become the bank’s head of acquisition finance, a role memorialized in the book Barbarians at the Gate, which chronicled the leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco. He later took on many banking roles, retiring from Credit Suisse First Boston in 2008 as managing director and chief credit officer. He later joined Global Infrastructure Partners, a private equity firm, spending 17 years as chief risk officer and senior advisor.
In 1998, Mr. O’Brien represented a group of Swiss banks in agreeing to full reparations to the families of Holocaust victims who had their savings and investments held by those banks for many decades.
As a leader in the finance industry, he was known as a mentor to younger employees, regularly advising them to write thank-you notes to those who had a great impact on their careers.
“He believed in the American Dream because he lived it,” said Angelo Araimo, former president of the College.
Mr. O’Brien served on Wagner’s board from 1991 to 2003, when he was named a lifetime trustee; in 1995, the College awarded him an honorary doctorate of humane letters. He co-chaired the Putting Wagner First campaign from 2006 to 2011.
“I was vice chair while Bob was the board chair, and succeeded him when he needed to focus his attentions elsewhere,” said trustee Jay Hartig (’67, Hon.’09). “I have not seen anyone who could function as a strong leader and be so accepted by all those around him. His way of dealing with people on a personal level with genuine sincerity, while staying so intently focused on ‘accomplishing the mission,’ was unique.”
“Maybe it was our shared Army backgrounds from our Vietnam service or the way we handled our civilian readjustment that made us click — no attention-seeking, no dances in the end zone, no false bravado, just trying to be leaders and get the job done with precision while mentoring those around us,” Hartig said.
Mr. O’Brien and his family were also “deeply committed to their Catholic faith and helping those in need, as witnessed by their many generous charitable contributions to organizations stretching from New York City to Africa,” said Araimo.
“Bob never forgot where he came from, always remembering his working-class roots on Staten Island, and Wagner College and its role in his success,” Araimo said. “He stayed connected to Wagner over the years through his philanthropy, his dedicated service on the Board of Trustees, and by mentoring and providing internships to many Wagner students. He loved following Wagner basketball and until recently, attending theatre performances.”
Summing up Mr. O’Brien’s life, Araimo said; “He was a very tough and successful lifelong New Yorker who did not suffer fools, yet he was also one of the most thoughtful, beloved and generous souls I have ever known.”
Mr. O’Brien is survived by his wife of 52 years, Patricia; three daughters and sons-in-law, Corinne and Phillippe Krolicki, Jessica and Christoph Berenbroick and Alix and Craig Cohen; a brother, Jack; and eight grandchildren.
