Marsha Ryan Former Insurance and Utility Executive

Marsha Ryan is a multi-faceted executive with expertise in the fields of energy and insurance. She has broad experience in Board governance, regulatory policy, governmental affairs, customer service and multi-billion dollar portfolio administration. With a special interest in strategic planning and organizational design, Ryan has led large organizations through transformational change, including managing a major integration of operations subsequent to a merger, and restoring public confidence in a beleaguered governmental agency. She has provided expert testimony in regulatory proceedings, and lectured on a variety of topics in classrooms and at many symposia and conferences.

As CEO of the largest single line insurance company in the U.S. ($2B in annual premium, $19.5B in total assets), she developed policy and led operational reform efforts at Ohio’s Bureau of Workers’ Compensation. Selected by Governor Ted Strickland to head the system, which had been troubled with scandals in investments and operations for a number of years, Ryan initiated a new governance structure, including the on-boarding of an 11 member professional Board of Directors, unprecedented in a governmental agency. She focused on bringing actuarial soundness to the system, hiring insurance and medical professionals to stabilize operation, and emphasizing accountability through the use of financial and private-sector insurance metrics for performance monitoring and reporting. Above all, Ryan stressed transparency and dignity for reconstruction of the reputation of this formerly troubled public entity.

In various executive roles at American Electric Power (AEP), she held positions in government affairs, marketing, customer care, and field operations, including two years as President and Chief Operating Officer of Indiana Michigan Power. Prior to joining AEP in 1990, she served more than 18 years in the public sector, focusing on consumer protection, customer service, public policy and regulation at the Ohio Department of Commerce, the Ohio Office of the Attorney General, and the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.

From 2002 to 2007, she served as a Director of State Auto Mutual Insurance Company, where she chaired the Nominating and Governance Committee of the Board, and chaired the selection committee for State Auto’s Chief Executive Officer in 2006.

She was a Trustee of Franklin University (Columbus, Ohio) for over 10 years, and served as Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees. For several years, she also served as an Advisory Board member for USBank in central Ohio, helping to guide investment and business contacts in the community. She has served on many not-for-profit and civic boards in both Ohio and Indiana, and has a special interest in regional vitality issues.

She resides in New Albany, Ohio and Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, with her husband, Harry J. Ryan.

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