Meet the Gallagher Student Health Team

Peter Finney

President, Gallagher Student Health & Special Risk

Peter Finney is the President of Arthur J. Gallagher’s Student Health (GSH) business, responsible for all sales, marketing, delivery, finance, compliance and administrative functions related to the operation. The focus of the business is bringing innovative solutions and industry best practices to higher education and K-12 clients across the country. Peter started his career with Gallagher in 2014 as the GSH Chief Operating Officer, before assuming the role of President in 2016. Peter is a career healthcare executive with extensive experience in leadership, business development and operations. His expertise is service delivery and client relationship management in the payer industry for for-profit, government and not-for-profit organizations. This includes tenure with several Fortune 500 managed services firms leading the delivery of business and IT solutions for regional and national health insurance clients such as Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island and Cigna. In government Peter served as the Deputy Director of Operations for Massachusetts Medicaid (MassHealth). In the not-for-profit area he served in a tertiary hospital setting as a physician practice manager (NICU and Maternal Fetal Medicine) for Boston-based Tufts Medical Center. Peter began his healthcare career as an account executive with Matthew Thornton Health Plan (now Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Hampshire) first in sales and later directing renewals and new business for the health plan’s key client accounts. He has a lifetime of leadership experience, including nearly 30 years as an officer in the U.S. Navy and Navy Reserve. Peter and his family live in the Boston, Massachusetts area.

Martha Murphy

Senior Vice President, Student Health

Martha joined Gallagher Student Health & Special Risk in 2017 as the Practice Leader responsible for growth, retention and increasing value to our college and university clients. Martha and her team of experienced professionals work closely with finance, risk managers, health services and student affairs in developing best-in-class solutions for managing on-campus student health insurance programs. Martha maintains relationships with several of our strategic clients, including, University of Houston, Texas Southern University, University of Miami, University of Chicago and Duke University. Prior to joining Gallagher Student Health, Martha worked for more than 20 years in employee benefits and held various sales and marketing leadership roles at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, one of the nation’s top ranked health plans. Martha managed multiple lines of businesses, including National Accounts, Medicare, Individual Products and Student Health. Martha worked closely with State and Federal agencies in the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the launch of the public marketplace and private exchanges. Martha has a Bachelor of Science in Administration of Health Services from Ithaca College and her M.B.A. from Babson College.

Dan Buckley

Senior Vice President, Sports & Special Risk Practice

Dan Buckley currently serves as the Division Vice President at Gallagher Student Health & Special Risk, overseeing all of Gallagher Student's Sports & Special Risk accounts as well as assisting the Division President with strategic planning and growth for the company. Having previously served as Assistant Vice President and Senior Account Executive for Sports & Special Risk products, Dan remains dedicated to assisting his client schools in all aspects of their insurance programs including: policy renewal and general administration, and also works with his clients to train College and University personnel on the policy procedures and guidelines. Competing as a Division I wrestler during college, Dan is well-versed in collegiate sports, sports injuries, and sports insurance. Since Dan joined Gallagher Student, the Sports and Special Risk department has grown from just over a dozen clients to more than 150 Sports & Special Risk Programs. Dan's efforts working with his team towards streamlining the claims process for his clients have made Gallagher Student an industry leader on all lines of sports and special risk insurance. Gallagher Student's Sports and Special Risk team prides itself on easing the administrative burden for their clients by taking over many of the "paperwork" processes that athletic trainers and Athletic Business Managers have previously had to do themselves. In this way, our Sports & Special Risk Department makes the administration of the sports and special risk policies as efficient as possible.

Dean Sandonato

Senior Vice President, Global Risk

Dean joined Gallagher in 2011. Dean focuses his efforts on the four basic roles for every client, relationship building, operational support, (including transition, program development, marketing and service), claims management and risk control. He leverages his years of experience with Gallagher, and his in-depth understanding of each client to bring the best team to the table. The first step in any risk management initiative is identification. Dean concentrates on sharing information in personally developed formats and processes to help inform his clients with relevant data to make better decisions. Dean has developed a seamless and proprietary transition process for his clients. Dean holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics & Finance from Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts. During his tenure at Bentley University, Dean was a pitcher for the NCAA Division II Bentley University baseball team of the Northeast-10 Conference.

John Malster

Director of Information Technology

As the Director of Information Technology, John is responsible for all aspects of Gallagher Student Health & Special Risk's information technology, including management of the website gallagherstudent.com and the nearly 200 customized student portals and micro-sites that support Gallagher's higher education clients. John and his team are responsible for development and support of the division's proprietary customer support systems that facilitate online enrollment, waiver, and world class tools to provide plan administration and customer support to our clients and students. John has always enjoyed exploring innovative ways to use the Internet and new technologies. Before joining Gallagher Student Health, he was Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. John oversaw 120 IT professionals and was responsible for providing technology and security solutions for the executives, affiliates and employees of that 42,000-person organization. In his previous position with the State, John served as the Deputy CTO for the Department of Transportation. In both roles, John provided the technical vision and IT roadmap to deliver critical infrastructure and IT solutions to a broad array of stakeholders and constituents. Prior to his work in state government, John spent 17 years as an IT and Technology Leader with Goldman Sachs and Company (GS). During his tenure with GS, John held several different leadership roles, assisting the Boston office and other world-wide GS locations with their infrastructure and technology needs. In his most recent GS role, John was the Technology Manager for the Acquisition and Divestitures Division with oversight of the GS Re-insurance Division, Financial Technology and Trading Software, Mainframe Services and GS Administrative Services.

Sheryl Barron

Senior Vice President, Client Experience

Sheryl joined Gallagher Student Health & Special Risk as Director of Account Management, working directly with the Client Service team to provide account management and client support for key clients. Prior to joining Gallagher Student Health & Special Risk, Sheryl spent over 20 years in the health insurance industry, holding various leadership roles at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, one of the nation's top ranked health plans. Sheryl has managed multiple lines of business including accounts of all sizes and complexities, and has extensive leadership experience in Training and Development, Quality Assurance, as well as Customer Service and Operations Management.