Board of Commisioners - Governance - Corporate Information - Port Authority of New York & New Jersey Port Authority of NY & NJ Building the Region Commuting & Traveling Transporting Cargo Home About the Port Authority Business Opportunities Corporate Information Careers Port Authority Police Press Room OIG Corporate Information • Governance • Board of Commisioners Board of Commissioners Corporate Information Home John J. Degnan, Chairman Governance John J. Degnan was nominated to the Board of Board of Commissioners Commissioners by Governor Chris Christie and was confirmed by the New Jersey State Senate on July 10, 2014. PA Leadership He was elected Chairman of the Board on July 23, 2014. Mr. Degnan retired as Vice Chairman and Chief Operating By-Laws Officer on December 31, 2010, from The Chubb Corporation. He currently serves as senior advisor to the Transparency in Governance CEO of The Chubb Corporation. Mr. Degnan served as Vice Chairman and Chief Administrative Officer of The Chubb Board Committee Charters Corporation since December 2002 and Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer from June 2008 through December 2010. He served as Commitment to Reform Chief Ethics Officer from 2005. He has held various titles since joining Chubb & Son a division of Federal Insurance Company in 1990 as a Senior Vice President Financial Information and General Counsel. In September 1996, he was elected President of The Chubb Corporation and also became President of Chubb & Son a division of Federal Insurance Company in 1998. Board Meeting Information Mr. Degnan served on the boards of the American Institute for Chartered Property Freedom of Information Casualty Underwriters; the School of Risk Management, Insurance and Actuarial Science, St. John’s University and continues to serve as a trustee for St. Benedict’s Transparency Preparatory School, Saint Barnabas Medical Center and Barnabas Health. He is also member of the Governor’s Advisory Committee on Judicial appointment. Recently, he has been appointed to the President’s Federal Advisory Council on Insurance. After working as a law secretary for the late New Jersey Supreme Court Justice John Francis, Mr. Degnan joined the Newark, NJ law firm of Clapp & Eisenberg. In 1974, he was appointed assistant counsel to Brendan T. Byrne, Governor of New Jersey, becoming Chief Counsel to the Governor in 1977. He was appointed Attorney General of the State of New Jersey in 1978 and served until 1981 when he became a senior partner with Shanley & Fisher, specializing in administrative law. Mr. Degnan graduated from Saint Vincent’s College magna cum laude in 1966 and from Harvard Law School with a Juris Doctor degree in 1969. He received honorary degrees from the College of St. Elizabeth in 1978 and from Seton Hall University in 1979. Committee Assignments: To be determined. Scott H. Rechler, Vice-Chairman Scott Rechler was appointed to the Board of Commissioners in June 2011 by Governor Cuomo. Mr. Rechler is the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of RXR Realty LLC (“RXR”), a multi-billion dollar private real estate company which was formed subsequent to the sale of Reckson Associates Realty Corp (“Reckson”) to SL Green in January 2007, one of the largest public Real Estate management buyouts in REIT history. Mr. Rechler's vision and leadership guided Reckson where he served as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board during its years of dynamic growth throughout New York City, Long Island, New Jersey, Westchester and Connecticut, overseeing in excess of $6 billion in acquisitions and developments and managing over 20 million square feet of commercial property in New York's Tri-State Area. Mr. Rechler's real estate acumen and entrepreneurial spirit delivered stellar returns to investors including a 715% total return to the Reckson shareholders. Mr. Rechler was at Reckson from 1989 until January 2007 and during his tenure served as President, Chief Executive Officer, and member of Reckson's Board of Directors since its formation, as well as the Chairman of the Board's Executive Committee. Mr. Rechler was the architect of Reckson's successful IPO in 1995. Since its formation in January 2007, Mr. Rechler has led RXR in becoming one of the New York Tri-State area's leading real estate companies with approximately $3.5 billion of assets under management invested in a portfolio of 105 operating properties encompassing 15.0 million square feet. http://www.panynj.gov/corporate-information/board-commissioners.html[9/24/2014 12:20:15 PM] Board of Commisioners - Governance - Corporate Information - Port Authority of New York & New Jersey Mr. Rechler is actively involved with the Real Estate Roundtable, for which he is a member of the Board of Directors and Co-Chair of its Political Action Committee. Mr. Rechler prides himself on enhancing the communities where RXR operates. As such, Mr. Rechler serves as a Board member of the Association for a Better Long Island, Board member of the Association for a Better New York, member of the Hofstra Honors College Advisory Committee, as well as the NYU Real Estate Institute Advisory Committee. In addition, Mr. Rechler serves as the Co-President of the Board of Trustees for Friends Academy and serves on the Board of many of the regions top cultural institutions such as the Tribeca Film Institute and the Long Island Children's Museum where he serves as its co-Chairman of the Board. Mr. Rechler is a graduate of Clark University. He also earned a Masters of Science degree in Real Estate at the New York University Schack Institute. Committee Assignments: Operations (Vice-Chair), Capital Planning, Execution and Asset Management (Chair), Special Oversight Committee (Chair). Richard H. Bagger Richard H. Bagger was nominated to the Board of Commissioners by Governor Chris Christie. He was confirmed by the New Jersey State Senate on June 28, 2012. Mr. Bagger is Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Strategic Market Access for Celgene Corporation, a multinational biopharmaceutical company focusing on the discovery, development and commercialization of treatments for cancer and severe, immune-inflammatory conditions. Rich is responsible for advancing patient access to Celgene therapies and driving recognition of the value of Celgene innovation through government relations, communications, patient advocacy and market access policy activities around the world. Mr. Bagger most recently served for two years as Chief of Staff for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, responsible for managing implementation of the Governor’s policy agenda and priorities. Previously, Rich was employed by Pfizer Inc for more than 16 years in a series of positions of increasing responsibility within the Company’s U.S. Pharmaceuticals, Corporate Affairs and Worldwide Pharmaceuticals Divisions. From 2006 to 2009, he served on Pfizer’s senior most management team as Senior Vice President, Worldwide Public Affairs and Policy. Prior to joining Pfizer in 1993, Mr. Bagger was Assistant General Counsel of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Jersey, and before that practiced law with McCarter & English. Mr. Bagger’s record of public service includes ten years in the New Jersey General Assembly, where he was Chairman of the Appropriations Committee and was elected by his colleagues to be Majority Conference Leader. In 2001, he was elected to the New Jersey Senate and serviced there until 2002. Before his election to the Legislature, he was a Councilman and Mayor of Westfield, New Jersey. Richard Bagger has served on the boards of numerous non-profit organizations, including the United States Chamber of Commerce, British American Business, the APEC Life Sciences Innovation Forum, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, the Business Council of New York State, the Healthcare Institute of New Jersey, the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, the United Hospital Fund of New York , the American Council of Young Political Leaders, the Citizens Budget Commission of New York, the Overlook Hospital Foundation and the New Jersey Historical Society. He received an A.B. degree from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and a J.D. degree from Rutgers University Law School. Committee Assignments: Finance (Chair); Audit; Special Oversight Committee George R. Laufenberg, CEBS George R. Laufenberg was nominated to the Board of Commissioners by Governor Chris Christie. He was confirmed by the New Jersey State Senate on July 10, 2014. Mr. Laufenberg is administrative manager of the New Jersey Carpenters Funds. The five funds total in excess of $2 billion in assets and provide apprenticeship and training, health, pension, annuity and vacation benefits to more than 15,000 union members and their families and 7,000 retirees. In addition to his duties with the carpenters union, he is chairman of the New Jersey Alliance for Action, a 700- member labor, business and governmental coalition which seeks to resolve infrastructure issues affecting the quality of life in New Jersey. Mr. Laufenberg also currently serves on the Board of Directors of the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute, the Institute for Nursing, the Board of Trustees of the Independent College Fund and as vice-chairman of the Empire State Carpenters Funds Board of Trustees. He is also a past chairman of the board of Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, NJ and continues to serve on the hospital’s Board of Trustees. Mr. Laufenberg was appointed by former Governor Christine Todd Whitman to serve on a task force evaluating the affordability and accessibility of health care in New http://www.panynj.gov/corporate-information/board-commissioners.html[9/24/2014 12:20:15 PM] Board of Commisioners - Governance - Corporate Information - Port Authority of New York & New Jersey Jersey, and is a past member of the Board of Directors of Blue Cross & Blue Shield of New Jersey, the New Jersey Hospital Rate Setting Commission, and the Jersey Coast Health Planning Council. He has served on various committees for the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans.