Aon named a chief innovation officer who will, in part, be charged with organizing the company’s New Ventures Group, a division focused on developing new technologies and services for clients. W.R. Berkley’s Berkley Life Sciences has a new president, promoted from within.

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Aon appointed a chief innovation officer who will be charged with organizing its fledgling New Ventures Group, as well as a leadership team to help fill out the new division.

As chief innovation officer, Tony Goland will be responsible for leading the group’s development and launch of new technologies and services for clients. Previously, Goland was Aon’s chief human resources officer, where he was the architect of the firm’s talent recruitment strategy, among other efforts.

Before joining Aon in 2015, Goland was a senior partner at McKinsey & Company, where he spent 30 years advising leading organizations on how to maximize client value and expand shareholder return by accelerating growth.

Goland begins his new role on Nov. 1, 2018. Aon appointed Siobhan Cifelli, currently the global human resources leader for the Aon Operating Committee, to the role of interim CHRO while Aon completes a comprehensive internal and external search to fill the CHRO role.

Other new members of Aon’s New Ventures Group Leadership Team:

Christa Davies, chief financial officer; Bryon Ehrhart, global head of strategic growth and development; and John Bruno, chief operations officer, Aon and chief executive officer, data & analytic services.

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Emily Urban is the new president of Berkley Life Sciences, a unit of W.R. Berkley Corp.

Urban replaces succeeds Jill Wadlund, who was named non-executive vice chairman of Berkley Life Sciences. The appointments are effective immediately.

Urban joined Berkley Life Sciences as a senior vice president and chief underwriting officer when the company was formed in 2007 and was named executive vice president and global field officer in 2009. She has been in the property/casualty insurance industry for nearly 30 years, with significant experience in leadership, underwriting and distribution management.

Wadlund joined Berkley as president of Berkley Life Sciences when it was formed in 2007 and has over 30 years of experience in the property/casualty insurance industry, nearly 25 of which have been focused specifically in the life sciences area. In her role as non-executive vice chairman, she will remain a resource through transition to Urban.

Berkley Life Sciences offers a comprehensive spectrum of property/casualty insurance products to the global life sciences industry.

Sources: Aon, W.R. Berkley