Chairman of Spencer Stuart U.S., Tom Neff has been with the firm since 1976. He managed the worldwide firm from 1979 to 1987. His consulting practice focuses on CEO and board of director consulting and searches. He has conducted more than 300 CEO and more than 600 board searches. He founded the Board Services Practice in the U.S. as well as the firm's U.S. advisory board of prominent CEOs. He previously served as leader of the firm's professional practices committee for 10 years.
Prior to joining Spencer Stuart, he was a principal with Booz Allen & Hamilton in executive search. Previously, he was the CEO of an information systems company and held a senior marketing position with TWA. Earlier, he was a management consultant with McKinsey & Company in New York and Australia.
Tom serves on the boards of directors of ACE Limited (chair of governance committee), a $15 billion Zurich-based insurance company, and the Lord Abbett mutual funds with assets in excess of $100 billion. He previously served on the boards of Hewitt Associates, Macmillan and Exult until they were acquired. He also serves as a trustee emeritus of Lafayette College and previously served as chairman of the board of the Brunswick School.
Tom co-authored Lessons from the Top — The Search for America’s Best Business Leaders, published by Doubleday in August 1999 and You’re in Charge — Now What?, published by Crown Business in January 2005.
Tom has an M.B.A. from Lehigh University, a B.S. degree in industrial engineering from Lafayette College, and served as an officer and aide de camp in the U.S. Army.