Carl L. Bach, Jr.

Since his graduation from Central Regional High School in 1969, Carl Bach has forged his way to international success in the business world. As Managing Director and Senior Vice President for European Operations of the Reliance National Insurance Company in London, England, Carl has built in five years a company with a net worth in excess of $200,000,000 and has created businesses in Madrid, Spain, Kiln, Germany, Stockholm, Swedent; and Rotterdam and Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

At Central Regional, Carl did well academically, was active in student government, and lettered in football and basketball. Carl represented Central at Jersey Boys' State at Rutgers University and was honored to speak at the Baccalaureate Service of the Class of 1969.

Looking back on his high school career, Carl credits his Spanish class experiences with both Juanita and Lolita Carfora for whetting his appetite for travel and for foreign cultures. He feels that the seeds for his international business career were planted here at Central.

He graduated cum laude from St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with a B.A. degree in International Relations. While in college, he was elected to the Alpha Sigma Nu, the Jesuit University National Honor Society.

During the summers, Carl earned an associate's degree in Latin American Studies by attending the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City. He also participated in a school construction project in a rural village in the Colombian Andes and taught English at American Studies to Colombian nationals at Medellín.

After graduating from St. Joseph's, Carl attended the American Graduate School of International Management (The Thunderbird School) in Glendale, Arizona, and earned a master's degree in International Management with a specialization in Latin American Studies and the Spanish Language.

In October, 1974, Carl joined the American International Underwriters, the largest U.S. multinational insurance company. He was headed for a post in Guatemala when a severe earthquake abruptly rerouted him to London in 1976.

Working in London from 1976 to 1982, Carl became manager of the Casualty Insurance Department and eventually was appointed to the Board of Directors of the London company of the American Insurance Underwriters. He lectured widely in England, Dublin and Paris on international insurance topics and also wrote articles for various trade journals. Carl later worked in New York and then returned to London underwriting insurance policies for some of the largest American and European businesses.

It was in 1991 that Carl was approached by the Reliance Insurance Group with a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity. He took full advantage of the offer with startling success in insuring a broad range of companies and ventures such as satellite launches at NASA, a Three Tenors concert in Frankfurt, an oil rig in the North Sea, and the paintings at a Vermeer exhibition in the Hague.

In 1995, Carl was appointed chairman for a two-year term on the Committee of American Insurances in Europe, an industry lobbying body affiliated with the International Insurance Council in Washington, D.C.

Carl presently resided in England with his wife Patricia, his son Justin, and his daughter Stefanie. His son Carl III is a senior at George Washington University. Still having Central-bred passion for the Spanish language, Carl and his family try to spend as much time as possible at their vacation home in southern Spain near Cartagena in Murcia.

Carl's experience is a classic example of opportunity meeting talent and diligent preparation. His impressive accomplishments are an inspiration to all of us at Central Regional, and we wish him and his family continued success.