James M. Mead

James M. Mead served as President and CEO of Capital BlueCross (Harrisburg, PA) for 20 years from 1984 to 2004. Following his retirement as President and CEO, he became Vice Chairman of the board, serving on the board until 2021.  Since 2007 he has been a Venture Partner with Radius Ventures, (New York, NY). From 2017 to 2019 he served as President and CEO of PinnacleCare International (Baltimore, MD) becoming Vice Chairman and Lead Independent Director in 2020 serving until the company’s sale to Sun Life Financial in 2021.  

Mr. Mead has extensive board and corporate governance experience having been on the boards of over 25 public and private companies. From 1989 to 1995 he was a member of the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, serving both as Vice Chairman and then as Chairman. He is a former member of the boards of the Hershey Trust Company and the Milton Hershey School.  During his tenure he served as non-executive president of the Hershey Trust Company as well as Chairman of the Investment Committee, which managed the over $13 billion trust established by Milton S. Hershey. He is also a retired Director of The Hershey Company where he served as Chairman of the Compensations and Executive Organization Committee. From 1988 to 2004, Mr. Mead was a member of the board of directors of the BlueCross and BlueShield Association sitting on many national committees and chairing its Plan Performance and Financial Standards Committee. He currently serves on the board and treasurer of the American Friends of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London, UK and as an advisor to the board of Syft, Inc. (Tampa, FL), a Radius Ventures portfolio company.

Mr. Mead holds B.S. and M.A. degrees in economics from Penn State University and was appointed Alumni Fellow of the University in 1986.