wfn.org | New Board of Pensions President Settles In

[PCUSA NEWS <pcusa.news@ecunet.org>]

14-July-1999 
99237 
 
    New Board of Pensions President Settles In 
 
    Rob Maggs Says He Wants to `Give Back to the Church' 
 
    by Jerry L. Van Marter 
 
PHILADELPHIA - When he came to a career crossroads last year, Robert W. 
("Rob") Maggs Jr. figured he had three choices - start his own business, 
retire, or "find something where I could give back some of what I'd 
learned." 
 
    Maggs, 55, quickly eliminated the first two options. "I was too afraid 
to pursue the first, and too young to settle for the second," he says. 
 
    The answer for him - behind door number three - was the presidency of 
the Board of Pensions of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), a position to 
which he was confirmed recently by the 211th General Assembly. 
 
    "This position seems like a great combination to use the business 
experience I have acquired and my desire to serve the church at a time when 
my wife and I are looking for a new adventure," Maggs told the Presbyterian 
News Service during an interview conducted during a break in the July 8-10 
meeting of the Board of Pensions here. 
 
    "I was told about the Board of Pensions job during a golf game with the 
moderator of our presbytery [Genesee Valley Presbytery in Rochester, 
N.Y.]," he added. "When I looked into it, I was excited by the 
possibility." 
 
    Maggs, born in Chicago but raised in Elkhart, Ind., graduated from 
Claremont McKenna College in California, then earned his law degree at the 
University of Illinois. His first job out of law school was as a drafter of 
legislation for the U.S. House of Representatives. After one year in 
Washington, he moved to Rochester, where he worked in the banking industry 
for 27 years, first for Lincoln First Banks (a bank holding company) and 
then, after a merger, for Chase Manhattan Banks. 
 
    Maggs is an elder of Third Presbyterian Church in Rochester. A few 
conservatives opposed his confirmation because Third Church is a "More 
Light" congregation. 
 
    "It's my wife's family's church," he said, unapologetically. "Five 
generations of her family were baptized, confirmed and married in that 
church. We were married in that church. I've been there since 1971. It's my 
church." 
 
    Working in an industry as volatile as banking has been good preparation 
for his new work, Maggs said. "I have the ability to learn a great deal 
fairly quickly about this organization, with its long and honorable 
history," he said. "And I have developed a good sense of how external 
change can affect an organization like ours. I have confidence that I can 
help balance the grand traditions of the Board of Pensions with the 
uncertainty of change." 
 
    Although he has no experience in the health care field, Maggs is 
undaunted by the relative unfamiliarity of his new work. "I'm a fast 
learner," he said, "and I'm not too scared, because there's a great staff 
here - candid, dedicated and working as a great team. As president, I have 
a strong safety net." 
 
    The rapid pace of change in the health care industry doesn't seem to 
phase Maggs, either. 
 
    "There is a great national debate going on right now, and at the Board 
of Pensions I'm surrounded by people with a great deal of experience who 
can contribute a lot to that debate," he said.  "My job is to make sure the 
Board is responsive to its plan members." 
 
    For relaxation, Maggs plays golf ("Badly," he says) and enjoys 
gardening, cooking, fishing, reading and enjoying the company of his wife, 
Debby, and their family, including his 16-month-old granddaughter. 
 
    Asked what he has read most recently, he cited "Paths of Courage," 
Stephen Ambrose's book about frontier explorers Lewis and Clark, which he 
says gave him courage. "When you think about the pace of change today but 
then think about them, you have to be inspired," he said. "They were really 
going out into the unknown." 
 
    On a day when Maggs said his biggest challenge was "figuring out how my 
new office phone works," he seemed humble, confident and comfortable in his 
new job. He smiled, puffed on his pipe and concluded, "I promise to do my 
best." 

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