“A True Gentleman and Outstanding Leader,” Say Cooper Leaders
John P. Sheridan, Jr.
The executive leadership of Cooper University Health Care is saddened to announce the death of Cooper Health System President and CEO, John P. Sheridan, Jr. and his wife, Joyce. Mr. Sheridan was remembered as “a true gentleman and outstanding leader” by George E. Norcross, III, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Cooper Health System, and Adrienne Kirby, PhD, the President and CEO of Cooper University Health Care. Mr. Sheridan had served as President and Chief Executive Officer of The Cooper Health System since February 2008.
“It is hard to overstate how great a loss John’s death is to his family, friends, co-workers and Cooper,” said Mr. Norcross. “He was a friend, a mentor and a role model. There is no one else who has had as big an impact on me as John did except my father. I will miss him very much.”
Mr. Sheridan joined Cooper as Senior Executive Vice President in July 2005. He became Chief Administrative Officer in March 2007 and President of Cooper University Hospital in September 2007. He was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of The Cooper Health System in February 2008.
“Working closely with John, I was able to see first-hand his quiet strength, his decisiveness and his passionate belief that Cooper not only could make a difference in people’s lives, it had an obligation to do so,” said Dr. Kirby. “His leadership made Cooper a better place.”
In his decade at Cooper, Mr. Sheridan helped lead a transformation of the entire health care system, from the construction and expansion of the Roberts Pavilion of Cooper University Hospital, to creating the first new medical school in New Jersey in three decades, to building a partnership with MD Anderson Cancer Center to bring their world-renowned care to Cooper. Perhaps his greatest contribution to the larger Cooper community was his commitment to helping revitalize Camden. There was never a day that went by when he wasn’t focused on what Cooper could do to help revitalize the city that he loved, and that should be the defining hallmark of his tenure at Cooper.
Prior to coming to Cooper, Mr. Sheridan had an exemplary career in government service and as a lawyer. Before joining Cooper, he was a senior partner and Co-Chairman of the law firm of Riker, Danzig, Riker; and he served for a number of years as General Counsel to the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and the Carrier Clinic. He served on the Board of Trustees of the Carrier Clinic, a not-for-profit psychiatric hospital in Belle Mead, NJ, for 25 years. Mr. Sheridan also served in the Cabinet of Governor Thomas H. Kean as Commissioner of Transportation, and as Chairman of the Board of the New Jersey Transit Corporation from 1982 to 1985. Earlier in his career, he served as Deputy Attorney General of the State of New Jersey, Assistant Counsel to Governor William T. Cahill, and Counsel to the New Jersey Senate Minority.
He graduated St. Peter’s College and received his law degree from Rutgers Law School. Mr. Sheridan also served in the U.S. Army from 1968 to 1970.
Mr. Sheridan served on The Cooper Foundation Board of Trustees and the Executive Committee of Coopers Ferry Partnership. Mr. Sheridan was on the Board of Trustees of the New Jersey Council of Teaching Hospitals, the New Jersey Hospital Association and the Ronald McDonald House of Southern New Jersey. He served on the Hospital Alliance of New Jersey Board and Executive Committee and served on New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s Healthcare Transition Subcommittee in 2010.