Mike Anderson is Chief Operating Officer of Assurant Solutions. Prior to his role as COO, Mike was President of the company’s International locations. He oversaw the extended protection programs and services, mobile protection and credit protection, and managed international support in Atlanta and Miami. Mike created the International Business Board in 2007, as a risk management group with global presence.

Mike began his career in automotive sales and for a time owned and managed a Chevrolet dealership in Kentucky. In 1993, he became Senior Vice President of Marketing, Service & Training at MS Diversified Corp, and through an acquisition in 1998, MS Diversified became the core of the Assurant Solutions vehicle service business.

Sam has worked for AmWINS Group since 1996.  He is an Executive Vice President who is currently responsible for the production and marketing of all lines of Property and Inland Marine business, specializing in the placement of large, national property schedules, catastrophic portfolios, loss distressed business, and difficult builder’s risks. Additionally he serves on the U.S. Brokerage Advisory Board for AmWINS and is the Branch Leader for the Atlanta office.  Prior to joining AmWINS, Sam worked for Alexander and Alexander (aka AON) as an account manager focused on global risk management.  There he assisted in the development of overall risk management program design, client servicing, risk financing, and global marketing for national and multi-national accounts.  Sam graduated from the University of Northern Iowa with a degree in finance/economics and holds a Master’s degree in Risk Management and Insurance from Georgia State University.  He carries the professional designations of Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) and Associate in Risk Management (ARM).

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Jeffrey T. Bowman is a President and CEO of Crawford & Company headquartered in Atlanta. Jeff, who has worked in the insurance industry for 30 years, qualified as a Fellow of the Chartered Certified Accountants in the United Kingdom in 1983. Jeff was part of a team that implemented a buyout of the Graham Miller Group, attracting the attention of Crawford & Company. Crawford purchased Graham Miler Group in 1990. Jeff served as financial director for Crawford’s overseas operations until 1995. He then moved to Crawford’s headquarters in Atlanta and was promoted to Vice President of International Operations, then COO of Global Property and Casualty Services. He is a passionate advocate of ongoing adjuster education. Jeff is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Institutes. He is a Board member of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and writes a quarterly column for Claims Management magazine.

Dr. Henry Brink was born and raised in Yonkers New York. Upon graduating high school, He enlisted in the USAF, where he specialized in airborne weapons delivery systems and nuclear weapons. After his honorable discharge in 1957, Dr. Brink enrolled in Georgia Institute of Technology’s School of Electrical Engineering. He graduated from the program in 1961, and was recognized in the National Engineering Honor Society and the National Electrical Engineering Honor Society. Upon graduation, Dr. Brink began working as a weapons system engineer for the F105 Thunder Chief with the Republic Aviation Corporation. After briefly working with the Republic Aviation Corporation, Dr. Brink returned to Georgia Tech to earn his Master of Science Degree in Industrial Management in 1964. He completed his Masters in 1965, and was then employed by IBM as a Marketing Representative for the Data Processing Division. While working with IBM, Dr. Brink earned his FLMI designation from the Life Office Management Institute. After successfully completing four years as a marketing representative, Dr. Brink was promoted to IBM’s Insurance Industry Marketing Group. Dr. Brink also earned his Masters of Insurance degree in 1975, as well as his Masters of Business Administration- Finance in 1976. Dr. Brink then earned his Doctor of Philosophy in Risk Management and Insurance in 1981. He also earned his CLU, CPCU, and ChFC designations.

In 1982, Dr. Brink was promoted to the unique position of IBM Industry Consultant- Insurance. He was the first to ever receive this designation in the insurance and the thirteenth person to earn the Industry Consultant Designation in IBM. While serving in this position, Dr. Brink became instrumental in bringing IBM’s bi-annual Advanced Insurance Institute to Georgia State. In 1993, Dr. Brink retired from IBM. He then began a Christian Ministry from in the Ukraine. In 1995, Dr. Brink began teaching in the Risk Management and Insurance Department at Georgia State University as a part time instructor. He retired from teaching in 2015.

James C. Brooks, Jr., FSA, MAAA is retired and a former President and CEO of Life Insurance Company of Georgia (ING, North America). Jim’s impressive career at Life of Georgia spanned 29 years. In 1998, he left ING and started several successful ventures – Mullingbrooks, LLC, Efficient Markets Corp, Brooks Financial Management, Bragg Associates, and Actuarial Innovations, LLC. Jim has served on the GSU Risk Management Foundation Board of Trustees and has also served on the Board of Visitors for Emory University, Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Kiwanis Club, as well as for numerous industry groups and associations. Jim graduated with a degree in mathematics from Duke University, where he began his lifelong avocation as a classical clarinetist, recently playing a reunion concert there. He also holds an MBA in Actuarial Science from Georgia State University. With his wife Karen, he recently established The James C. “Jim” and Karen W. Brooks Award which supports travel activities for members of GSU’s Department of Risk Management and Insurance faculty.

Mary Ann serves as Executive Vice President of Corporate at Pacific Life Insurance Company and served as its Executive Vice President of Corporate Development since April 2010. She has been the Chief Executive Officer of Pacific Select funds (Pacific Funds – PL  Large – Cap Growth Fund) and Pacific Funds – PL International Large – Cap Fund since January 1, 2010. Her responsibilities include overseeing Corporate Information Technology, Enterprise Risk Management, and Pacific Life Re, headquartered in London.

Mary Ann’s actuarial career began at Canada Life Assurance in Atlanta in 1980. She was employed with Tillinghast/Towers Perrin from 1983 to 1996, consulting in most areas of life, annuity, and health insurance industry products, strategy, and actuarial appraisals. She was the lead principal for variable products and Managing Principal of the New York and Washington offices. In 1996, she joined Swiss Re New Markets as Director of Worldwide Life Reinsurance and CEO of Atlantic International Reinsurance Company.

In 1998, Mary Ann joined MetLife, Inc. as President of New England Financial Products and Services, heading product management for individual life, annuity, and small group products for all MetLife companies. She also chaired Security First Group and MetLife’s reinsurance companies, serving on the boards of RGA and separate account funds. In 2002, she was appointed Chief Actuary of MetLife, heading Risk Management an Valuation of over $250 billion of liabilities worldwide. From 2000 to 2007, she served on the board of the National Association of Variable Annuities and was its Chairman in 2004 and 2005. In 2015 she was inducted into the Insured Retirement Institute’s Hall of Fame for “outstanding leadership and vision to advance the retirement income industry.”

Before his early retirement at the end of 1998 to pursue philanthropic and other outside interests, Ed Bryant was a Principal of Towers Perrin and the Managing Director of the firm’s Southeast offices in Atlanta, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, and Nashville. In addition to his management responsibility for one of Tower’s largest offices in Atlanta, Mr. Bryant served as the account manager and human resource consultant for several of the firm’s major clients.

Mr. Bryant’s 30 plus years of insurance, employee benefits, compensation and actuarial experience spanned a wide range of consulting engagements, with particular emphasis on the design, actuarial and financial aspects of large pension and employee benefit programs for corporations and governmental groups. Mr. Bryant also had broad compensation, executive benefit and human resource experience at the policy and the strategic planning levels.

After his retirement from Towers Perrin, Mr. Bryant served as president of his own consulting firm through 2010. In addition, in 1999 and 2000 he served as chief operating officer for Firstdoor, INC., a human resource technology firm; and for October, 2005 through March, 2007, he served as chief operating officer for Walk Thru the Bible, an international non-profit ministry.

Mr. Bryant earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s degree in actuarial science from Georgia State University, and he subsequently became a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries. Mr. Bryant was on the board and a past president of the Southern Employee Benefits Conference, a former board member of the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, a former board member of the American Institute for Managing Diversity, a former board member and chair of the Georgia State University Educational Foundation, a former member and vice chair of the Salvation Army College for Officer Training Board of Visitors, a former board member of the Wesley Woods Foundation and a former board member and past president of Highlands Country Club. Currently, Mr. Bryant serves on the boards of Walk Thru the Bible, Highlands Country Club Community Association and Good Samaritan Health Center.

William graduated from the University of Richmond with a Bachelors in Science. After working for one year as an Actuarial Student at the Life Insurance Company of Virginia, William entered graduate school at Georgia State University, graduating with a Masters of Actuarial Science. While attending Georgia State University, he worked in the Actuarial Department of Piedmont Southern. Upon graduation, he returned to the Life Insurance Company of Virginia where he worked for 19 years in the Group Department, starting as an Actuarial Student and ending as Senior Vice President and Department Head. After serving briefly as the Group Actuary for Integon Insurance Company, William joined AFLAC, where he served as Senior Vice President and Corporate Actuary until retiring in January 2000.

William was a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries. He served on numerous committees in the insurance industry and the Society of Actuaries. He served one term on the Board of the Society of Actuaries. He served on the Actuarial Board for Counseling and Discipline (ABCD) and on the Academy’s Standards Committee.  In his spare time, William enjoys several hobbies including tennis, golf, traveling, and bridge.

Anthony “Tony” Burger is currently an Enterprise Risk Advisor/Principal in the Property & Casualty Department for Pritchard & Jerden Insurance and Risk Management. Throughout his more than 40 years long career, he has had experience including state regulatory responsibilities with the Georgia Insurance Department, insurance company underwriting management with Continental Insurance Company and Amica Mutual Insurance Company, and insurance brokerage operations including management, sales, and service with Pritchard & Jerden. After serving as Chairman of Pritchard & Jerden for a number of years, Burger is now focused on providing risk identification and risk treatment solutions for business organizations in a variety of industries.

Burger received his BBA in Risk Management and Insurance from Georgia State University. He is also recognized with a Chartered Property & Casualty Underwriter Designation, an Associate in Risk Management – Enterprise Risk Management Designation, an Associate in Risk Management Designation, and an Accredited Advisor in Insurance Designation. Burger is a past president of the Georgia State University National Alumni Association and of the Georgia State University Risk Management & Insurance Alumni Club. He was also a trustee of the Georgia State University Athletic Board.

Harold Cohen retired from Cohen Financial, LLC as a Senior Consultant with John M. Bragg and Associates in 2016. Prior to working as a consultant, Cohen held a variety of positions with ING/Life Insurance Company of Georgia over the course of 35 years. He began as a Product Actuary and completed his career with the company as the Head of Transition Services. His vast skills and experience with ING included strategic planning, merger & acquisition support, expense management, litigation defense support. Additionally, Cohen has served as a volunteer tax preparer with the AARP Tax Aide program.

Cohen earned his Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Georgia State University in 1971, and was a recipient of the Floyd S. Harper Award. He became a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries in 1975, a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries in 1978, and a Chartered Life Underwriter in 2002.

A native Atlantan, Bruce Connell received a B.A. in 1974 from the University of South Florida and an MBA 1977 from Georgia State University. He started his career in 1974 at Royal Insurance in Atlanta, GA as a Casualty & Specialty Lines Underwriter before moving to Zurich American Insurance Company in 1977. Soon after in 1978, he began working for General Reinsurance as a casualty underwriter. Opportunity knocked in 1980, when he was asked to join a startup company – Trenwick Reinsurance Company – where he stayed for 6 years. Bruce travelled extensively – mostly to Europe – as this was the beginning of the commercial insurance and reinsurance market in Bermuda with major oil company captives beginning to write more “outside” business. Bruce finished his time in Bermuda with the XL Insurance Company. In 1986 he and his wife, Beverley, made a lifestyle change, retired from the business, and moved to North Carolina. However, their change was short lived, and Bruce postponed retirement when colleagues from Trenwick that had assumed senior positions at XL Insurance approached him to join the firm in 1989. Over the next ten years, he helped expand the product lines in Bermuda and Europe to include property insurance, reinsurance and other specialty lines of business and had the pleasure of residing in Dublin, Ireland. He retired from XL Insurance in 2002 as Executive Vice President & Group Underwriting Officer. Since retiring, he has served on several boards including the board of the Markel Corporation.

Richard Corbett retired in 2012 as the Independent Life and Accident Insurance Company Professor in the College of Business at Florida State University. He was the Director of Master’s Programs at the College of Business at FSU for several years. Corbett initially worked for a life insurance company in Atlanta, GA before earning his advanced degrees. He then taught at The University of Texas at Austin, Southern Illinois University – Carbondale, The University of Iowa, Seattle University, and Florida State University. He held multiple titles, and taught a variety of courses and topics in a range of educational venues.

Corbett earned his MBA and Ph.D. degrees from Georgia State University. His professional designations include Chartered Life Underwriter, Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter, and Associate in Risk Management. Corbett chaired the Risk Management Advisory Committee for the City of Tallahassee for ten years and received two commendations from the city for his work. He has also served on or chaired several other advisory committees, including the ARM Advisory Committee for the Insurance Institute of America, the Southern Risk and Insurance Association, and the United Way Campaign at Florida State University.

Tom Crawford has been in the Financial Services Sector for over 50 years and is considered one of the most successful financial services executives in the country. Currently he is CEO and President for his own company, Crawford Corporate Coaching in which he coaches C-level executives and business owners in the art of building successful business environments.

He has had major impact at Allstate, CNA and Prudential, where he served as President, CEO and Chairman of their Property and Casualty Company. He also served as President of Prudential’s U.S. Distribution organization. In 1984, Tom built Southern Heritage Insurance Company from the ground up, which was bought by Geico in 1991. As President and CEO of Crawford and Company, his success was reflected in the attainment of the second highest appreciation rate in mid-cap stock value for 2008. Tom retired from his position as Chairman of the Board at Crawford and Company to expand his own company, Crawford Corporate Coaching.

Tom has served and continues to serve on numerous industry boards and is often asked to give commencement and keynote addresses including Rutgers University business graduates, University of Georgia’s MBA graduates and the graduates of Gainesville State College.

Tom is especially proud of receiving the prestigious Turknett Leadership Character Award for integrity in leadership.

Michael Crowley is President and Co-Chief Operating Officer of Markel Corporation. Mike joined Markel in February 2009 as President of Markel Specialty, and he was promoted in May 2010 to his current role. Mike has more than 40 years of experience in the insurance industry. Prior to joining Markel, he served as President of Willis/HRH North America and as President and COO of Hilb, Rogal & Hobbs, which was acquired by Willis in 2008. In 1974, Mike began his insurance career with Johnson & Higgins and served in several leadership positions, including Senior Vice President of Virginia operations. In 1991, he joined Palmer and Cay in Savannah, where he serviced as President and COO, prior to being named Vice Chairman. Mike earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from Wake Forest University. He serves on Wake Forest’s Board of Visitors as well as the Richmond Board of the First Tee Organization. He is a former member of the Young Presidents Organization and has served on numerous community boards.

A native Atlanta, Means attended UNC Chapel Hill, was called to active duty in the Naval Reserve, and served in the Vietnam War before returning to Atlanta. Married, he found what was then Georgia State College the right place to get his Marketing degree. He joined Haas & Dodd in 1966, a large insurance agency and continued at school receiving his Master of Insurance degree from Georgia State University. Means received the CPCU designation in 1972, and in 1974 was the youngest CPCU to be a speaker at the CPCU Annual Meeting & Seminars having co-authored Risk Management in Construction.

While in graduate school, Means was asked by Noah Langdale to find insurance coverage for the University System of Georgia. It took four years, changes to the Georgia Constitution, and led to a very broad manuscript policy. Throughout his career, Means specialized in difficult casualty coverage.

As a member of the Georgia Association of Independent Insurance Agents, Means was a founding member of the Young Agents Committee, which set about changing the insurance environment in Georgia through education and licensing laws. Through that association, he co-authored a two-volume book polished by the National Underwriter Company on how insurance agencies could recognized to be able to utilize computers effectively.

In 1977, Means joined the GSU Alumni Board of Directors and became president of the association in 1983. In 2003, he retired as a trustee of the GSU Risk Management Foundation (formerly Educational Foundation, Inc.), having served on that board and others at GSU continually since 1977. In 2015, Means’ daughter, Tarasa Davis, honored her father and his commitment to GSU with the establishment of the R. Means Davis Jr., CPCU Endowed Professorship.

Mike is an actuary by training and has more than 30 years of experience in the insurance industry. Since 2018, he has been the Chief Operating Officer of Allstate Benefits located in Jacksonville, Florida. At Allstate Benefits, he is responsible for Sales, Sales Support, Operations, (Enrollment, Billing, Service, Call center, and Claims) and Product (product development, pricing, and underwriting) for Allstate’s Voluntary Benefits Business. Prior to Allstate, Mike spent 10 years as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Munich Re’s US Life Reinsurance business based in Atlanta. He directed all aspects of the US Life Reinsurance business covering all lines of business including Individual and Group Life and Disability and Long Term Care. He chaired the Munich American Reassurance Company board of directors and its Audit Committee, and was also a longtime RMF Board of Trustee.

Wesley Devoto most recently served as President of Devoto and Company, Inc., a private international mergers and acquisition firm based in Atlanta and London. Devoto and Company, Inc. specialized in U. S. and other international acquisition (and occasionally divestitures) by U. K. companies in the $5 to $120 million price-range. Prior to working with Devoto and Company, Inc., Devoto worked at Georgia Life and Health Insurance Company, starting as Assistant to President and eventually becoming President. He was a co-founder, director, and served as President of the British American Business Group. Because of this position, he has been recognized by Queen Elizabeth II as an honorary member of the Order of the British Empire for his work.

Devoto earned his undergraduate degree, a B.S.I.M. from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He attended graduate school at Emory University and Georgia State University, ultimately earning an M.B.A. and an M.I. He has lectured at the graduate business schools of the Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia State University, Mercer University, and Emory University.

William Dodge is a former independent risk management consultant. He began his career as an Underwriter for the Liberty Mutual Insurance Company after earning his Bachelor’s degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Mr. Dodge served in this role for six years.  After graduating with his Master’s from Georgia State University, he became an Insurance Administrator for the Lockheed Corporation. Mr. Dodge continued in this position for several years before becoming Risk Manager for Schlumberger Ltd. After his brief work with Schlumberger, Mr. Dodge began working with the Fuqua Insurance Company, serving in several positions including Vice President of insurance, Vice President of insurance and benefits, President of the Risk Retention Group, and the President of the company. After serving with Fuqua for several years, Mr. Dodge began working as an Independent Risk Management Consultant.

Throughout his career, Mr. Dodge has also been active within the risk management community. He coauthored The Hold Harmless Agreement. He has also served on several boards and committees within several different entities including the Risk Management Inc.’s Advisory board and the J & H WF Syndicates B.’s New York Insurance Exchange. In his spare time, Mr. Dodge has also been a member of several other organizations including the Navy League, the Savannah Yacht Club, a member of the Executive Committee Reorganization and Management Improvement for the State of Georgia, as well as Lieutenant Commander for the Tybee Light Power Squadron, a unit of the United States Power Squadron. He has also received several awards for his work within the Risk Management sector, as well as in his community. His awards include the U.S. Coast Guard Captain Diploma, and recognition in the Marquise “Who’s Who in America.”

Wesley C. Duesenberg, Jr. is a Certified Insurance Wholesaler and CEO/Owner of Southern Insurance Underwriters, Inc. (SIU) and SIUPREM located in Alpharetta, Georgia and is celebrating his 43rd year with the companies.

SIU has been in business since 1964 and is a family owned Managing General Agency, LLoyds Correspondent and Surplus Lines Wholesaler underwriting hard to place property and casualty risks primarily in the Southeast. SIUPREM is a sister business celebrating 50 years in business and finances insurance policies premiums for insureds.

Wes earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting at Emory University and was a member of Sigma Chi Fraternity. He then attended Georgia State University (GSU) and earned a Master’s Degree of Professional Accounting. He worked with the CPA firm of Arthur Anderson and later at the Law Engineering and Testing Company, as their Tax Accountant and internal Chief Auditor.

On the 1st of April 1976 he started working with his father at SIU and quickly went back to GSU to earn a Master’s Degree of Insurance.

Wes and his father both served as Presidents of the AAMGA – the only father and son to do so. Wes also founded the AAMGA University in 1987 and served as Chancellor from 1987 – 1995 and Treasurer of the AAMGA from 1996 – 2006.

In 2004, he was responsible for raising over $1mm for the creation of the AAMGA Distinguished Chair in Risk Management of Insurance at GSU. From 1996 until 2018 Wes served on the Risk Management Foundation at GSU and served as Chairman in 2008 and as Treasurer from 2013 to 2018.

In recognition of his notable achievement to GSU he was awarded the Alumni Service Award in 2006. In 2001, he was awarded the AAMGA 75th Anniversary Diamond Award and in 2008 he received the highest honor bestowed by AAMGA by receiving the Vince Donahue Lifetime Achievement Award.

Wes is active in many insurance and surplus lines organizations as an active member of Alpharetta First United Methodist Church where he is on the Church Counsel and the New Building Committee.

Wes has been married to Joanne Lemaster since 1977 and they have a son, Wesley III (Tripp) married to Katie who have two sons Wesley IV and Wyatt; and a daughter, Leslie married to Tom Wyatt who have two children Grace and Leighton. Wes’ best accolade is to be called “Ducky” by his favorite people: his grandchildren.

After graduating with his MBA from Georgia State University in 1968, Gordon joined Fireman’s Fund/American Express and was appointed President and COO in 1977. In 1984, he was appointed President and COO of American Security Group, apart of the Holland based AMEV. In 1990, after years of sales growth and profitability, the company was merged into Fortis. Fortis operated six holding companies and later merged with Mutual Benefit Insurance Company. The USA operations were later spun off as Assurant.

In 1995, Gordon co-founded Insweb.com – one of the first transaction based internet insurance business. In 1998, he joined Real Life Benefits – a web based suite of employee benefits services and became Chairman and CEO in 2000.

Gordon retired in 2002 and lives in California. He served on the board of trustees of the GSU Risk Management Foundation and has served on a number of civic and philanthropic organizations.

After 30 successful years in the insurance market, Janet approaches everyday as a new opportunity to build. A passionate learner, Janet draws form her innovative energy to constantly analyze and discover possibilities in the product world. She came to Transamerica in March 2013 and has immediately embraced the product innovation atmosphere and hopes to bean integral part of the growth of the Transamerica business. In her current role, Janet is responsible for developing life and health products that enable Transameirca to deliver on tis financial objectives, as it becomes the most trusted insurance organization for helping families protect against financial risk.

Her naturally competitive style and holistic approach to challenges allows her to visualize the bigger picture – and to create it. Before joining Transamerica, Janet held the role of SVP, Life Product at Genworth. During her three years at Genworth, Janet had overall strategy and P&L responsibility for the Life product line. Before her time at Genwroth, she held the role of SVP, Insurance Services at National Financial Partners. She spent more than seven years building g out the insurance platform for that major insurance distributor. Prior to NFP, she was in a senior leadership role at Canada Life Assurance Company and Prudential where she managed the individual line of business and developed innovative products. Janet began in the insurance industry as an actuarial student with First Colony. She is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries.

Janet has two boys – one pursing a Ph.D. in Physics at Case Western University and the other studying Classics and Art History at Rice University. She enjoys biking, running, hiking, baking, live music and is a voracious reader.

After graduating from Georgia State University with a BBA in Risk Management and a Master’s of Science, Steve Haase began working for FM Global. While working there, he oversaw several international insurance programs for many Fortune 1000 companies including Coca Cola, Ford Motor Co, Chrysler INC., and Genuine Parts. After serving several years with FM Global, Steve joined the Hamilton Dorsey Alston agency, an Atlanta based independent insurance company. While working with Hamilton Dorsey Alston, Steve became one of the first insurance professionals to specialize in providing risk management expertise to emerging technology companies. In 1997, Steve introduced the first insurance product that offered protection for internet exposures. Two years later, he raised private insurance equity and formed his company, INSUREtrust.com LLC. Since then, Steve’s idea of cyber liability coverage has expanded to many businesses. Because of his influence, Steve was awarded the Cyber Risk Industry Legend Award at the Advisen Cyber Risk Awards Ceremony. He also received a Riskies Award from the Georgia State University Risk Management Foundation for his contributions to the Risk Management and Insurance field.

In his spare time, Steve serves on the Board of Trustees for Georgia State University’s Risk Management & Insurance Educational Foundation. He is also a speaker for many risk management and insurance events, as well as a lecturer for the Risk Management & Insurance department at Georgia State University and the Distance Learning and Professional Education Institute for Georgia Institute of Technology.

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In 1973, Darryl Harris graduated from Georgia State University. After graduation, Darryl briefly served as a U.S. Army Officer at Fort Lee. After his service, Darryl began working for ING (now known as VOYA Financial in the United States), where he would spend his 34-year career as an actuary. While working with ING, Darryl had many roles within several facets of the company including product management, group insurance, property and casualty insurance, and pensions. He also served as a Chair for the ING U.S. Pension Committee, and as a Global Employee Benefit Actuary for the company. During his career, Darryl was also a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries.

Since retiring from ING in 2007, Darryl has worked with several organizations including the Arthritis Foundation, the Primitive Baptist Foundation, the Georgia Primitive Baptist Youth Camp, the Georgia State University Athletic Association, and the Georgia Senior Golfers Association. He also participates in ministry with his church, Northside Primitive Baptist Church, as a Deacon and Adult Bible Study Teacher.

During his career, Smitty has held many positions. For sixteen years, he severed as an Adjunct Professor of Insurance at the University of South Carolina. He also served as the Society of CPCU South Carolina Chapter President for two years, as well as a Past Chair of both the Property Insurance Plan Service Office (PIPSO) and the National Conference of Insurance Guaranty Associations (NCIGF). He has also served as a Named Fiduciary for both the ISCO Group Health and Welfare Trust, and the ISCO 401K Plan. For over twenty-five years, Smitty has been employed as the Executive Director of the South Carolina Wind and Hail Underwriting Association, as well as the South Carolina Property and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Association. He also serves as a Special Deputy Receiver for two domestic insurers in South Carolina. He is also active with the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS), as a member of the Research Advisory Council, and a member of the IBHS Board of Directors. For his hard work in the insurance sector, Smitty has received the Chairman’s Award and the Industry Person of the Year Award from the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of South Carolina.

Smitty received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of South Carolina. He graduated magna cum laude and received the Powell Award for being the Outstanding Senior in Insurance. Soon after graduation, Smitty enrolled in Georgia State University, where he would graduate with his Masters in Insurance. Upon graduation, he was awarded with the McDonald Award for being the Outstanding Graduate Student in Insurance.

In his spare time, Smitty is active in a number of organizations, including the Indian Waters Council of the Boy Scouts of America where he serves as Vice President. He is also an Eagle Scout, a Vigil Honor Member of the Order of the Arrow and a recipient of the Silver beaver Award.

After serving 3 years in WWII in the 20^th Armored Division, Fred enrolled in Georgia Evening College in 1947, while working full-time with Commercial Union Insurance, starting as a file clerk.  He majored in insurance, and real estate, and was very involved in many school organizations, including Delta Sigma Pi Professional Fraternity. He was instrumental in starting the school’s Alumni Association—actually, the first Alumni Association letter went out under his signature in 1950.   During Fred’s time in college, the school raised funds to hire additional personnel including, Dr. Ken Black, who eventually founded the Risk Management Program for the college. Today, Georgia State University is one of the top Risk Management Universities in the world.   Fred graduated in 1951, from Georgia Evening College.  The college eventually grew into Georgia State University, with over 52,000 students today.

After graduation from Georgia State, Fred spent 44 years in the insurance industry in Atlanta.  He began with Knight Rives General Agency in 1950, eventually becoming a partner in that firm, with the name changing to Rives, Massey & Hedges.  Later, Fred became a partner at Manry & Heston Insurance in 1976.  He retired in 1990 after 14 years there.  During his career, Fred was involved in the Independent Insurance Agency System in Georgia.  In addition, he spent many years conducting seminars on the perpetuation of agencies and counseled agents on evaluating, selling and buying agencies.  In this capacity, he helped many small and family-owned agencies survive difficult financial troubles.

David Holland is retired Vice Chairman, President and CEO of Munich American Reassurance Company. His tenure at Munich Re began in 1969 and ran through 2008, a prestigious 39 years. David received his Masters of Actuarial Science and his Bachelors of Business Administration from Georgia State University. Over his distinguished career, David has served a variety of organizations as advisor and director. To name a few: Board of Directors of Georgia Association of Life Insurance Companies assisting as President and Vice President; LOMA Atlanta Board of Directors, assisting as Vice Chairman and Chairman; The Actuarial Foundation in Illinois; and the American Council of Life Insurers in Washington DC. David also supports Predisan USA and the Honduras Medical Mission. David’s activities with Munich Re and affiliates include: Director, Vice Chairman and CEO, Munich American Holding Corp.; Director at Princeton, LifePlans, Inc.; Chairman & CEO at Waltham, MA; Munich Atlanta Financial Corp., Chairman and CEO Atlanta.

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Dave joined American International Underwriters (AIU), the international subsidiary of AIG serving clients with international exposures, as an underwriter trainee in 1970. He later served with increasing responsibilities in Houston, Washington DC, and Atlanta. In 1974, he was appointed AVP and the AIU Southeast Regional Manager based in Atlanta. In 1976, he was transferred to Chicago as AIU VP and Midwest Regional Manager. By 1979, Dave had been appointed President of the North American Division of AIU and Director of AIU Corp. in NY overseeing all AIU regional offices in the US and Canada.

In 1983, he took a position overseas as President of AIU Hong Kong Ltd. and Southeast Asia Region Manager, returning to Atlanta in 1986 with the AIG Domestic Brokerage Group as Southeast Regional President. He went overseas again in 1990 as President of AIG Europe SE based in Paris, with responsibility of Europe and Scandinavia.

In 1993, Dave returned to the Domestic Brokerage Group in New York as Director of Regional Operations and Marketing for the U.S. and Canada. In 1994, he was promoted to Vice President of AIG, Inc. In 2001, he retired to Atlanta with AIG Life and Health, Employee Benefits, Retirement Services and Property Casualty Companies. Finally in 2006, Dave became the President and CEO of AIG Aviation Inc. in Atlanta that covered aviation business across the globe. He retired from AIG in 2011.

Since 11986, Dave has served on the GSU Risk Management Foundation Board three times, totaling ten years as Trustee and one term as Chairman.

Terry Jacobs is a veteran leader with extensive experience as a Chief Executive Officer and as a member of multiple Boards of Directors. He served as CEO for more than twenty years of two companies that he founded and took public. In his career, he has held board positions for nine public companies, six private companies and nine charitable organizations. His successful management track record, background knowledge and experience with capital raising and allocation of financial resources are extensive. He has dealt with private equity, public equity and all forms of debt markets. The understanding he has gained as a public and private company CEO has provided him with insights and knowledge that are valuable in all areas of business and industry.

Terry’s career began by enlisting in the U.S. Marine Corps after high school with 8 years in active service and reserve service was given an honorable discharge. He then completed his BBA and Masters in Actuarial Science from Georgia State. His exceptional career has translated into numerous awards, including induction into the Blue Chip Venture Company “Hall of Fame” for Midwest in 1998, the Ernest & Young “Entrepreneur of the Year” for Midwest in 2001, and the Entrepreneur of the Year award from Ohio Governor Robert Taft. Mr. Jacobs received numerous awards of recognition by Madeira Schools Board for efforts and contributions to the Madeira City schools.

Dr. Joseph Johnson is a Professor Emeritus of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Dr. Johnson received his undergraduate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, after studying at Virginia Military Institute and the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. He then went on to receive his Masters’ at Georgia State University. After earning his PhD from Georgia State, Dr. Johnson began teaching at the Joseph M. Bryan School of Business & Economics in 1969. During his time with the university, Dr. Johnson served as the founding head of the Department of Business Administration from 1974 until 1984. He also served as the Director of University of North Carolina Greensboro’s Summer School from 1972-1974, as well as Chair of the University Faculty Senate in 1990-1991. Dr. Johnson later retired in 2000.

During his teaching career, Dr. Johnson was very active within the academic community, working with many organizations around the world in the fields of economics, finance and risk management; while also creating his own programs to help foster education. In 1975, he founded the Southern Insurance Institute and served as president of the organization until 1986.  Dr. Johnson also formed the North Carolina Insurance Education Foundation in 1971. NCIEF was a foundation that helped to support programs related to the Risk Management and Insurance degree programs in some colleges and universities by offering many services such as developing continuing education requirements and programs for licensed insurance personnel and offering graduate level courses for community college faculty with the help of the University of North Carolina -Greensboro. Dr. Johnson served as NCIEF’s President until 2008.

With continuing education programs in finance at Harvard University and in nonprofit management at Duke University after his retirement from the University of North Carolina –Greensboro, Dr. Johnson has served on a number of corporate and nonprofit boards and in public service roles including as a gubernatorial appointment to the North Carolina Bar Council.  A member of Greensboro Rotary for over forty years, he is a Paul Harris Fellow.

Dr. Johnson received his greatest honor of his career in 2018 when former students endowed the Joseph E. Johnson Scholarship in the Bryan School of Business and Economics.

Dr. Claude C. Lilly is the former President of Presbyterian College. He received several degrees from Georgia State including his BBA, MI, and Ph.D.  While obtaining his degrees, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Army, served as the Assistant Deputy Insurance Commissioner for the State of Georgia, and was the Assistant Regional Manager for Germantown Insurance Company for the southeast. After completing his Ph.D., Dr. Lilly began his teaching career. He taught at many universities including Texas Tech University, the University of Southern California, Florida State University, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Clemson University, and Presbyterian College. During his teaching career, Dr. Lilly also held other faculty positions including Head of the Risk Management and Insurance research centers at the University of Southern California and Florida State University; the Dean of UNC Charlotte’s Belk College of Business Administration, the Dean of Clemson University’s College of Business and Behavioral Science; and president of Presbyterian College until his retirement. During his career, Dr. Lilly also authored and coauthored more than 33 articles and 20 books and monographs. He also served as the editor of the CPCU Annals, as well as the founding editor of the National Association of Insurance Commissioner’s Journal of Insurance Regulation and the Intermediaries and Reinsurance Underwriters Association’s Journal of Reinsurance. 

During his teaching career and after his retirement, Dr. Lilly has been a contributor to several organizations. In the spring of 2019, he will be retiring from the Board of Directors for Erie Indemnity Company after 19 years of service. Dr. Lilly was a chair of the company’s audit committee for 8 years, retiring from his position in 2018.   In the summer of 2018, Dr. Lilly also retired from his position with the national Board of Pensions of the Presbyterian Church. He has also served on several other boards within his community, including the Charlotte Branch of the Richmond Federal Reserve Bank; Artisphere in Greenville, South Carolina; the Urban League of Greenville South Carolina; the Urban League of Charlotte, North Carolina;  the Board of Regents of the Ruth and Billy Graham  Children’s Health Center, Asheville, North Carolina; the board of Charlotte Habitat for Humanity, Charlotte, North Carolina; and president of the board of Trustees of the Florida Museum of History and Natural Science, Tallahassee, Florida.  He was also a member of the board of Canal Insurance Company and a member of the board of TIAA-CREF FSB. Previously, Dr. Lilly has also been the CEO of a startup company.

Dr. Robert Klein is an Emeritus Professor at Georgia State University and a fellow with the Center for the Economic Analysis of Risk (CEAR) at GSU. Dr. Klein is a leading expert on insurance regulation and markets with more than 35 years of experience as a regulator and an academic researcher. He has published extensively on various topics in insurance and its regulation. Additionally, Dr. Klein advises federal and state agencies and other organizations on insurance matters.

William Loventhal will celebrate 46 years as a Northwestern Mutual representative and is working as a Financial Advisor. He has many professional designations and affiliations, including Chartered Life Underwriter, Certified Financial Planner, Chartered Financial Consultant, Accredited Estate Planner, Retirement Income Certified Planner, Atlanta Estate Planning Council member and more.

Loventhal graduated from Georgia State University with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Insurance. He has served as a Past Board Member of Temple Sinai, a Past National Board Member of ARZA, a Past President of B’nai B’rith Lodge, and as a Past Vice President of the Atlanta Alumni Club of Delta Sigma Pi. He is also a member of Scottish Rite, the Black/Jewish Coalition, the American Jewish Committee, and the Atlanta Advisory Council for State of Israel Bonds.

While working on a Master’s from Georgia State University in Actuarial Science, Wilford C. Lyon Jr. was working as a full-time employee of the Independent Life and Accident Insurance Company.  Wilford had previously worked with the company during the summers from 1952 until his graduation from Georgia Tech with a bachelor’s in Industrial Management. He would continue his 44-year career with the company. After graduating with his MBA, he went on to serve under several roles including Vice President, Chairman of the Board, President, and CEO. During his time with Independent, Wilford also partnered with the Board of Florida National Bank, as well as the Board of First Union in Florida. He also served on several boards during his career including the American Council of Life Insurance (ACLI), the Florida State Vice President and Board of Directors, Chairman of the Board for the Life Insurers Conference and the Life Insurance Pac of the American Council of Life Insurance. He has received several accolades for his work in Actuarial Science including Outstanding Businessman of the year, Boss of the Year from the Jacksonville Chapter of the Professional Secretaries, Top Management Award from the Jacksonville Sales & Marketing Executives, Man of the Year from the Jacksonville Association of Life Underwriters, the Humanitarian Award from the Jacksonville region of the National Conference of Christians and Jews, the Service to Youth Award from the YMCA Florida’s First Coast and an induction into the Gator Bowl Hall of Fame. His hobbies include distance running, skiing, traveling and sightseeing, and volunteering with several organizations including South Jacksonville Presbyterian Church, where he is an Elder and Trustee; PBS-WJCT, where he served as a Past Chair and chairman of the board; the Mandarin Rotary Club, where he served as President, and District Governor, and the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce, where he served as a Past Chair.

Nancy R. Mansfield serves as the Director of the Women Lead Program and Senior Faculty Associate for Women’s Leadership Development at Georgia State University.  Professor Mansfield has long been committed to excellence and innovation in undergraduate education and to experiential learning as part of the university experience.  She brings significant depth and breadth of experience to the women’s leadership initiative.

Professor Mansfield joined the GSU faculty in 1981 as the Legal Studies Academic Coordinator in the Robinson College of Business. Throughout her career in education, Professor Mansfield has built curricula and programs across disciplines, including developing and teaching courses on business, law and ethics.   Most recently, she has served as Professor of Legal Studies, Department of Risk Management and Insurance, and Faculty Associate for Scholars in the Honors College.  During her tenure at GSU, she also served as the Director of Freshman Studies for Georgia State from 2001-2003.  Professor Mansfield’s scholarly work focuses on the legal and ethical obligations of the employment relationship and a related body of research exploring the obligations of companies to shareholders, especially in the context of the corporate scandals that resulted in new and substantial shifts in professional liability exposures for many industries in the U.S.

Professor Mansfield has won a number of national, college and university-wide awards for her excellence in teaching, research and service, including the Outstanding Service to Students Award at GSU.  She serves as a board member of the Georgia State University Foundation and as the vice-chair of the Board of Trustees of the Atlanta Girls School.  Professor Mansfield earned her B.A. in Political Science from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and her J.D. from the University of Georgia, School of Law.

posthumous

Gary Meggs is Director, Risk Management at Southern Company Services, one of the largest U.S. investor-owned electric utility holding companies. Since 1987, he has been charged with overall responsibility for risk financing, administering property, casualty insurance coverage, and for providing other risk management services to the electric utilities comprising the Southern electric system. Gary received his undergraduate degree (BBA, ’74) as well as dual Master’s degree in Business Administration (’78) and in Insurance (’83) from Georgia State University, and holds the CPCU and ARM professional designations. He serves or has served on the Tisk Management Advisory Committee of industry mutual insurer Aegis, the Strategic Plannig Committee for Energy Insurance Mutual and the Boards of the GSU Risk Management Foundation and Y-Mutual Insurance Company. He has served as a mentor to scores of Georgia State University students and established the annul GSU Bermuda Railway Trek, to raise funds in support of Bermudian student who wish to study risk management and actuarial science at GSU. Gary is an avid outdoorsman and has climbed mountains and has hiked locales all over the world. He recently completed a coast-to-coast walk across England.

Tim Meyer is the Vice President and Regional Property Manager of the Midwest & Southeast Regions for Chubb, an insurance provider that offers property and casualty coverage both commercially and personally. In his position, Tim manages the underwriting for Chubb’s $30 gross written premium book of worldwide global risk. Tim began his career working with the Georgia Department of Transportation, working on a number of projects including the Scenic Byways program and the Transportation Enhancement projects. After working with the Georgia Department of Transportation, Tim than began working with Arch Insurance Group. He served as a lead underwriter for the general property business, and then as Assistant Vice President until his departure. Tim went on to join Chubb, formerly known as ACE, as the Vice President and Regional Property Manager of the Southeast Region of their Global Property Division. He held this position for several years before serving in his current position.

After attending Georgia Institute of Technology for his undergrad, Tim attended Georgia State University and received his Masters of Business Administration. While at Georgia State, he was a member of the PACE Leadership Development Program, which partnered him with ACE.

Mr. J. Bart Miller has over 30 years of experience in providing risk management and insurance to professional practices, businesses, and not-for-profit clients. Over the years, Bart has become a trusted strategic advisor to those he serves. Prior to co-founding Sterling Risk Advisors in 2003, Bart was a Partner at one of Atlanta’s oldest insurance brokerage firms. Now known as SterlingSeacrest, the firm has multiple offices across the Southeast, and over 200 employees and annual revenues over $40 million. Before entering insurance, he was Vice President of Atlanta’s Northside Hospital for 16 years. Bart attended the University of Georgia for two years before transferring to the Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University where he earned both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree. While in college, he was a member and officer of Kappa Sigma Fraternity. Before college, Bart graduated from The Baylor School in Chattanooga, TN. He has remained active at Baylor over the years and received its Distinguished Alumni Award in 2010 and the Distinguished Service Award in 1995. Bart has been a part-time faculty member at Georgia State University and currently serves on the Board of Visitors of Georgia State’s Honors College. In 2015, he received the Professional Achievement Award from the Institute of Health Administration at Georgia State University. With dedication to giving back to the community, Bart has served on the Board of Trustees of Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School, and was recognized with the school’s Distinguished Service Award in 2015, and the Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School Athletic Wall of Fame in 2010. He is also active in the Boy Scouts of America as an Eagle Scout, Scoutmaster, and as Camp Chief of Wood Badge Training. Bart served on the Board of Trustees of the George West Mental Health Foundation/Skyland Trail from 1990 to 2011. He and his wife Carol live in Sandy Springs and are active parish members of Holy Innocents’ Episcopal Church. They have three children – John, Elizabeth and Bartley and seven grandchildren.

Mike is President of Nationwide Ventures, LLC, a subsidiary of Nationwide. He is responsible for investing in start-up operations, joint venture or other companies that are developing leading edge concepts, new ideas or products, or new technology. He was elected to this position in late 2015.

Mike began his insurance career in 1977 and joined Nationwide in 1985. He also spent three years as Senior Vice President for Finance with Nationwide’s Property and Casualty businesses. In 19995, he joined Scottsdale as Vice President for /Finance and Treasurer, subsequently serving as Scottsdale’s Executive Vice President of  Operations and Administration. He served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Nationwide E&S/Specialty, formally know as Scottsdale Insurance Company, from 2005 to 2015.

Mike is on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Professional Surplus Lines Offices HE also is on the Board and Treasures of the NAPSLO Education Foundation. Deeply committed to corporate citizenship he serves on the boards of the Defiance College, the Valley of the Sun United Way, ad the Winebrenner Seminary.

Mike earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting & business administration from Defiance College and an MBA from Indiana University. His insurance designations include the CPCU, LCU, ASLI, ChFc, Are and FLMI.

Mike was instrumental in raising funds for the AAMGA Distinguished Chair in Risk Management & Insurance at Georgia State University.

George Napoles retired from his line management positions of Executive Vice President with Jackson National Life and Global CIO with Prudential PLC in 2010. As the Jackson Executive VP, he was acting CAO and CIO with responsibility for managing all Insurance Operations departments and managing the IT departments that provided hardware and software support for all North American Insurance and Brokerage operations. As Global CIO for Prudential, he provided a myriad of support, oversite and development functions that were focused on creating synergy and conformance among the diverse Prudential worldwide operations. After his retirement in 2010, he continued in a consultancy position with Prudential reporting to the group CEO until 2017. Immediately prior to his 25 years at Jackson, Mr. Napoles was a Senior Vice President for SunAmerica, where he led the rebuilding of its IT capability. After leaving SunAmerica, he was co-founder and CEO of a company that developed insurance software and provided consultant support to the industry. Earlier in his career, Mr. Napoles was a Senior Vice President for USLife Systems and a consultant for Cybertek Corporation. Following his graduation from Georgia State with a degree in Actuarial Science, Mr. Napoles fell in love with the emerging IT field and devoted most of his early employment melding his actuarial and IT knowledge towards the development and support of Actuarial software. He has had a diverse career including both significant management positions with established insurance organizations as well as consultancy support for this industry. Mr. Napoles currently resides in Asheville, NC with his spouse of 38 years and enjoys traveling, sailing, woodworking and playing with his computers.

Mac specializes in planning for estates and businesses in the affluent marketplace, and has been involved in some of the industry’s largest and most complex life insurance placements. As an adjunct professor Georgia State University’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business, he has instructed courses in business insurance, executive benefits, and estate planning. He also has bee a special lecturer to the national legal, accounting and estate planning communities for many years and chaired the committee representing the insurance industry in meetings with the U.S. Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service. He authored the doctoral dissertation “Estate and Gift Tax Consequences of Third Party Owned Life Insurance.”

Mac has served numerous leadership roles in the insurance industry, including national president of the Advanced Association for Life underwriting, president of the Atlanta Estate Planning Council and the Society of Financial Service Professionals. He is the recipient for the Distinguished Service Award form Georgia Tech, the Lifetime Achievement Award form Georgia State, and was recently elected the to the Hall of Fame by the National Association of Estate Planning Councils.

Mac is the Past Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Georgia Tech Foundation, served a s director of the Educational Foundation at Georgia State University and sits on the boards of M Financial Group, M Financial Investment Advisors, M Funds, Inc., and numerous charitable and community organizations.

Mac is a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology in business and industrial management. HE has an MBA and a Ph.D. in business from Georgia State University and the CLU designation from The American College.

deceased

In the eight years that Dr. Bruce Palmer was Chair of the Department of Risk Management and Insurance (RMI), the department experienced unprecedented growth in faculty size and financial support. Under his outstanding leadership, the department raised over $2 million to endow two faculty chairs, three professorships, and several scholarship funds. Bruce led the transition of the RMI faculty to its current focus on both research and teaching excellence during his tenure, leading by example. His career spanned 30 years (with a brief stint at Texas Tech). His academic publication list is distinguished and covers book, journal articles, and monographs. He held leadership positions in the American Risk and Insurance Association (ARIA) and the Southern Risk and Insurance Professionals. Bruce was a Huebner Fellow at the Wharton School, where he received both Ph.D. and Master of Arts degrees in applied economics. HE also holds an undergraduate degree from Drake University. Bruce collected numerous honors and awards throughout his career, including the prestigious Regents Teaching Excellence Award, honoring the entire RMI Department, and numerous recognition awards from the J. Mack Robinson College of Business (RCB). He is now retired and continues to be active in RMI and RCB activities.

Dr. Pérez is President and CEO of Rincón Investment, Inc., an investment vehicle organized to acquire QBE’s operations in Puerto Rico (QBE Seguros, Colonial Insurance Agency and New Century Finance). Dr. Pérez has served as Director of Georgia State University’s Risk Management Foundation, Inc., the Georgia Hispanic Construction Association and is a Past President of the Puerto Rico Chapter of the Society of CPCU, and the Professional Insurance Agents of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean.

James Presmanes is Vice President and Director of Risk Management and Insurance for Haverty’s a home furnishing store that has over 100 showrooms in 16 states across the southern and Midwestern regions. For over twenty-three years, Jim has managed the corporate risk for Haverty’s, with success in minimizing Haverty’s cost through enacting large deductible insurance plans. He also serves as Leader of the company’s enterprise risk Assessment practice, as well as a Chair of the Haverty’s Risk Committee. Prior to Haverty’s Jim was the Director of Risk Management & Insurance for Courier Dispatch, INC.

During his career, Jim has shared his knowledge of Risk Management with many organizations. In 2015, he spoke about the effects of the Housing Bubble and Financial Collapse on the furniture industry at the 2015 Annual RIMS Conference in New Orleans. He has also been a speaker at the Annual Conference of the Institute of Internal Auditors, as well as a member of a four-person panel discussion on Enterprise Risk Management at the 11^th Annual Association of the Federal Enterprise Risk Management Conference. In 2016, after co-authoring a paper on Macro Risk Analysis, Jim presented the work at the RIMS ERM Conference in Atlanta.  For the past six years, Jim has been teaching Corporate Risk Management to undergraduate students at Georgia State University. He also serves on the Standards and Practices Council at RIMS.

Jim received his MBA in Risk Management, and Insurance, his MS in Finance, and a Graduate Certificate in Enterprise Risk Management from Georgia State University. He also completed the One- Year Executive Leadership Program at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School.

posthumous

Everett Randall is currently Senior Vice President and Ethics Counsel at the American Institute for CPCU (The Institutes) where he has been for over 40 years.  After briefly working for an insurer in Atlanta for three years after undergraduate school, Everett took a position at The Institute in its Curriculum Department.  In that role, he was responsible for the content and examinations in The Institutes’ programs in underwriting and premium auditing as well as the CPCU 10 course, Issues in Insurance.

In 1992, he moved into the examinations area where he now heads up the development and administration of all Institutes’ credentialing exams for its 100,000+ students.   Everett helped lead The Institutes’ transition from paper and pen essay examinations to its current computerized multiple-choice format in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s.   Everett assumed the additional role of Ethics Counsel for the CPCU program in 2012.  In that position, he is responsible for the enforcement of the CPCU Code of Professional Conduct.  Most recently, he has also served in the additional role of Interim Executive Director of the CPCU Society.

Everett graduated from Georgia State’s RMI Department with his BBA and MBA in 1974 and 1976, respectively.   He also attended Temple University.  Everett co-authored or edited several of The Institutes’ texts in the programs for which he was responsible.  He holds the designations Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter; Chartered Life Underwriter; Fellow, Life Management Institute; and a number of Associate designations from The Institutes.

Bill’s early career was a unique combination of schools and institutions.  He attended Commercial High school and later Georgia State College (known now as Georgia State University) while working at Commercial Union Insurance.  He attended classes off and on while he held a job with the Army National Guard eventually graduating from GSU in 1958. After graduation he joined the Oberdorfer Agency and spent 19 years pioneering a risk management approach to commercial insurance.  Later he joined Hamilton, Austin, and Dorsey and continued his career for 17 years. He also served as a local and national officer of the PIA and was president of the Georgia CPCU.

Along the way, Bill had a parallel career in the military reserve, moving over from the Army National Guard to the Air National Guard, serving a total of 27 years and retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel.

Throughout his life, Bill was very active within various churches he attended. He served in many different roles with the church, including as a member of the Brotherhood of Saint Timothy as a congregant of the Holy Cross Anglican Cathedral.

Jane Sandler is currently the Vice President of Global Risk Management with McKesson, a company that provides healthcare solutions including healthcare technology services to its consumers. During her over 22-year career, she has served with several companies including Georgia Baptist Healthcare System and Mirant. She is a former Director of Risk Management & Insurance for Emory University and Healthcare. Jane also served as a Director of Risk & Compliance for eSecuritel. While serving in a client advocacy role with Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., Jane brokered an Executive Liability insurance book of Fortune 1000 domestic and multinational Risk Management accounts.

Jane received both her Bachelors in Risk Management and Insurance and her dual Masters of Business administration in Finance and Risk Management and Insurance from Georgia State University. She received her ARM designation from the Insurance Institute of America. Jane also received a degree in Executive Leadership from the Wharton School. During her career, Jane has served with several organizations including RIMS, serving as the Atlanta Chapter President for two years and as a board member. She has also served on the Board of GASHRM and as a Trustee on the Board of Trustees with the Georgia State University Risk Management Foundation.

Elizabeth Scattergood received her Master’s in Actuarial Science from Georgia State University. Shortly after receiving her MBA, she worked as an actuary for Towers Perrin Forster & Crosby (now known as Willis Towers Watson) for her 30-year career. She was also named Principal at Towers Perrin Forster & Crosby. After retiring, Elizabeth took on several consulting projects as an actuary. In her spare time, she served as Secretary and Treasurer for both the Buckhead Community Association and for her condo association. Her hobbies include reading, bridge, travel and her passions of Beatles/McCartney music, politics and women’s issues.

posthumous

Andrea T. Sellars has more than 40 years of experience in actuarial consulting as well as employee benefits.  Andrea has previously served as a National Practice Director of Actuarial Services, as well as a Chairman of the Professional Service Committee for Alexander & Alexander Consulting Services. She has also worked as a Senior Managing Director for Buck Consultants as well as working for several fortune 100 companies. During her career, Andrea has supported several organizations with different volunteer activities. These activities include working with the Pension Practice Council’s Future Thinking Task Force for the Retirement for the AGES project, as well as working with the Society of Actuaries for many of their pension and retirement projects. Andrea is also a former chair of the GSU Risk Management Foundation. Andrea graduated from Georgia State with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration and a Master’s in Actuarial Science. She also served as an Enrolled Actuary and a fellow of the Society of Actuaries and Conference of Consulting Actuaries. She is also a former President of the Atlanta Actuarial Club. She currently serves as a board member of the GSU Risk Management Foundation and a mentor in the Robinson College of Business Honors Mentoring Program.

deceased

Harold D. Skipper is Professor Emeritus of Risk Management and Insurance and former Chairman of the Department of Risk Management and Insurance in The Robinson College of Business where he also held the C.V. Starr Chair of International Insurance.  He retired from Georgia State University in 2005.

His academic focus has been on insurance-related public policy issues, particularly those relating to supervision, taxation, and international insurance trade.  His 1997 monograph, Foreign Insurers in Emerging Markets: Issues and Concerns, is said to have played an important role in advancing the insurance-related negotiations under the WTO’s General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).  Other areas of research that have proved relevant deal with taxation of life insurers and their products, life insurance marketing and disclosure regulation, issues associated with harmonized supervision worldwide, and deficiencies within the GATS related to insurance.  Besides several dozen articles, monographs, and book chapters, he is leading co-author of three textbooks: International Risk and Insurance: An Environmental/Managerial Approach; Risk Management and Insurance: Perspectives in a Global Economy; and Life Insurance (several editions). The 15th edition (2015) of Life Insurance was the centennial of its original publication (1915) by Dr. Solomon S. Huebner of Wharton School fame. It is believed to be the oldest continuously published insurance textbook in the world.

Dr. Skipper has been a visiting professor at the University of Paris and at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.  He has served on advisory boards for the Center for Social Security and Insurance Research at Peking University, the Center for Insurance Research at the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore, and the Singapore College of Insurance.  He has served on the Editorial Boards of The Journal of Risk and Insurance, The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance, Risk Management and Insurance Review, and The Journal of Insurance Regulation and as a member of the boards of The American College and of The Actuarial Foundation. He has been the recipient of several national and international awards and recognitions.

His non-academic experience includes a three-year appointment, while on leave of absence from GSU, as Economics Affairs Officer with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in Geneva, where he worked with developing countries to address their insurance regulatory and tax issues.  He worked closely for several years with the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for which he prepared policy monographs and gave lectures on insurance policy and trade issues.  He also has worked with the World Bank, the U.S. Department of Commerce, state and international insurance supervisors, the NAIC, as well as several major corporations and law firms.

He is past President of the American Risk and Insurance Association and past Vice President of the International Insurance Society.  He was the moving force in 1996-97 in the creation of the Asia-Pacific Risk and Insurance Association for which its Board of Governors awarded lifetime membership and named its research award in his honor.

His bachelor’s degree is from Georgia State University and his masters and Ph.D. degrees are from the University of Pennsylvania where he was a Huebner Fellow.

After graduating from Georgia State University with his BBA, Jim earned his CPCU designation from the American Institute for Property and Liability Underwriters. Jim also received his AMP designation from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Business Administration. During his 37-year career, James Stark served in many roles with Crum & Forster Insurance Company. He began his career in the Southern Regional Office in the underwriting department at an entry level position. As his career advanced, he would facilitate several assignments including underwriting, marketing, personnel and training. He would also serve under several roles including Branch and Regional Manager, CEO, President and Director of all of the insurance companies within the organization. After the company was sold to Fairfax Financial Holdings, Inc., Jim became a Managing Director. With the help of several independent agents and brokers around the country, Jim was able to develop a customer driven strategic focus, within the commercial lines of property and casualty insurance. This new focus was responsible for 90 percent of Crum and Forster’s gross premiums. During his career, Jim served with many organizations including the Board of Directors for the American Insurance Association, the Quality Insurance Congress as a Director and member, a Director of several captive insurance companies based in Bermuda, and as a Chairman of the Georgia State University Athletic Association.

Mr. David A. Stonecipher graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1962. After graduation, Mr. Stonecipher joined the U.S. Army for 2 years. Following the end of his service, Mr. Stonecipher was employed by Life of Georgia as an Actuarial Trainee. He also enrolled in Georgia State University to receive his Master’s Degree. He graduated from Georgia State University in 1967. After graduation, Mr. Stonecipher continued to work with Life of Georgia. In 1970, he became a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries. Due to his hard work and Dedication to risk management and insurance, Mr. Stonecipher was elected to Senior Vice President and Actuary in 1978. He would go on to receive several elections throughout his time with the company including Executive Vice President, President and Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Executive Officer of Life of Georgia and Southland Corporation. Mr. Stonecipher also served as President of GeorgiaUS Corporation.

Mr. Stonecipher has been a part of many organizations throughout his career. In the past, he has been a board member of several organizations including the GeorgiaUS Corporation, the Financial Services Roundtable, the Life Insurance Marketing and Research Association, North Carolina Citizens for Business and Industry, the North Carolina Governor’s Council, the Greensboro Community Foundation, Greensboro and Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, the United Way and the McCallie School. He also served as a Director for the Lincoln National Corporation from 2006 to 2011, and as Lead Director of the same organization.

Dorn H. Swerdlin is the founder and recently retired CEO of Swerdlin and Company. Dorn has over 45 years of experience in the retirement plan industry. Prior to starting his own firm with his wife, Joanne, he worked for several insurance companies as well as two international consulting firms. Dorn is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries where he served and chaired the Actuary of the Future Section Council, the Election Committee and the Marketplace Relevance Strategic Action Team.

Scott Thompson served on the staff of the Commander, U.S. Naval forces Philippines for two years after graduating from Harvard Business School. After his service, Scott worked with Citizens & Southern National Bank (which is now Bank of America). After working with Citizens & Southern for four years, Scott began working for American Southern Insurance Co, where he has spent the entirety of his 44- year career in insurance. During his career, Scott has served as Vice President and Controller, Executive Vice President, Chief Officer and Director, President, and Chairman of American Southern Insurance Company. He has also served as Director for Atlantic American Corporation. During his career, Scott has participated and volunteered with several organization including the Insurance Accounting and Systems Association as a past president, the Georgia Association of Property & Casualty Insurance Company as a past president, and the Georgia State University Risk Management Foundation as a past chairman. He currently serves as a Chair on the Governing committee of the Georgia Automobile Insurance Plan.

Scott has received many professional designations throughout his career including Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Management Accountant (CMA), Chartered Property Causality Underwriter (CPCU), Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU), Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), Fellow of the Life Management Institute (FLMI), Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC), Associate in Premium Auditing (APA), Associate in Risk Management (ARM), Certified Employee Benefit Specialist (CEBS), Associate in Insurance Accounting and Finance (AIAF), and Associate in Automation Management (AAM).

Scott received his Bachelors of Science in Industrial Administration from Yale University. He then went on to gain his Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard Business School. Scott then graduated from Georgia State University, first with his Masters of Professional Accountancy (MPA) and then his Masters of Insurance (MIn), where he was also a member of Beta Alpha Psi and Beta Gamma Sigma.  He then went on to receive both his Masters of Science in Financial Services (MSFS) and his Masters of Science in Management (MSM) from the American College of Financial Services.  During his time in school, Scott received several awards including the Elijah Watts Sells Certificate of Honorable Mention for his top score on the November 1971 CPA exams, and the Robert Meyer Gold Medal for the top score on the 1973 CMA exams.

Dr. John Thornton is a Regents’ Professor Emeritus of the University of North Texas. After graduating with his undergraduate degree with honors from the University of the South, Dr. Thornton went on to study at Georgia State University, graduating with this Masters’ and PhD. During His studies, he briefly worked as an Independent Insurance Agent, first with the Independent Property- liability Insurance Agent, and a year later with Provident Mutual Life Insurance Company. He also worked as a Technical Writer for New Computer Software Firm, and as a Graduate Teaching and Research Assistant for Georgia State University. In 1971, Dr. Thornton began his 35-year career with the University of North Texas as an Assistant Professor of Insurance in the university’s Department of Finance, Insurance Real Estate and Law. Throughout his career, Dr. Thornton would hold several positions in the university including Associate Professor of Insurance, Professor of Insurance, Coordinator and Regents’ Professor of Insurance until his retirement.

During his career, Dr. Thornton has written over 65 publications including monographs, journals, books, book reviews, paper in proceedings and papers presented. Some organizations that have presented his work include the American Risk and Insurance Association, the Southern Risk and Insurance Association, the Western Risk and Insurance Association, the Southwestern Business Law Association, the Journal of the American Society of CLU & ChFC, the Journal of Insurance Regulation, the Journal of Financial Services Research, the Journal of Petroleum Accounting, the Journal of Business Research, the Texas Insuror, the Independent Electrical Contractor, and  the International Insurance Society. He has also served in several scholarly journal editorial activities as an article reviewer, an editorial review board member, and an associate editor.

Throughout his career, Dr. Thornton has received many honors including the Special Service Award from the Dallas Insurance Community, the Silver Service Award from the Denton County Friends of the Family, and several nominations for the UNT Honors Professor by the Student Association, the UNT “‘Fesser Graham Award”, and for the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents’ Insurance Foundations’ “Insurance Educator of the Year” Award

During his spare time, Dr. Thornton was also very active within the Risk Management field; being a member of several organizations including the American, Southern, and Western Risk and Insurance Associations, the Dallas/ Fort Worth Chapter of the Risk and Insurance Management Society, the Internal Insurance Society, and the Texas Association of College Teachers. Within these organizations, he served in many roles including President, Secretary-Treasurer, Program Moderator, Vice-President, Chair and Chair on the Board of Directors. Dr. Thornton was also very active within the University of North Texas, serving on several committees including the university Athletic Council, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), the Athletic Scholarship Committee, the NCAA Certification Self-Study Steering Committee, the University Insurance and Retirement Committee, the Fringe Benefits Committee, the Regents’ Professors Committee to Screen Candidates, the Task Force to Study Academic Administration, the Faculty Senate, and  the Faculty Teaching From Evaluation Committee, and many more. In these committees, Dr. Thornton served under many roles including Secretary, Chair, Vice President, and Chair.

Outside of the Risk Management field and the university, Dr. Thornton is also involved in his community’s organizations as well. He has previously provided consulting services to the Denton Area Teacher’s Credit Union, the Texas Catastrophe Property Insurance Association, the Denton, Texas Independent School District and the Denton County Tax District, among several other organizations. He has also been on the Board of Directors for the Denton County Friends of the Family, a shelter for battered persons in Denton County. He has also been a Chair for the Trinity United Methodist Church of Denton Texas, a member of the Denton Wesley Foundation Board of Directors, and on the Board of Directors for the Mean Green Club of Denton, Texas.

Dr. Ellen Thrower is Professor Emeritus and a member of the Board of Overseers of the School of Risk Management (SRM) at St. John’s University. In 2011 she retired as Executive Director of the SRM, having served as head of the school since 2001.Dr. Thrower’s leadership of the institution began in 1988 when she was appointed as president of The College of Insurance, an independent specialty college in New York City. In 2001, she spearheaded the historic merger of the College with St. John’s University, and it was renamed the School of Risk Management, Insurance, and Actuarial Science. During the next decade, Dr. Thrower advanced a transformative strategic agenda that elevated the school’s academic profile and reputation as one of the nation’s foremost academic programs in risk management, insurance, and actuarial science. A centerpiece of the strategy, developed in collaboration with McKinsey & Company, was the establishment of a world-class apprenticeship center. Following her retirement, St. John’s named this the Ellen Thrower Center for Apprenticeship and Career Services in recognition of her leadership and lasting impact on the university. In 2016, A.M. Best named Dr. Thrower as one of the “Key Infl­uencers” who have helped to shape and mold today’s insurance industry. In 2013, Leader’s Edge Magazine recognized her as one of the top 100 “Insurance Industry Game Changers”, honoring the most infl­uential industry leaders of the past century. Previously, Dr. Thrower was named “Woman of the Year” by the Association of Professional Insurance Women, and Business Insurance named her one of the “100 Leading Women” in insurance. She is also a recipient of the Chairman’s Award – the highest award given by The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies – for her service and commitment to the advancement of the insurance industry. Dr. Thrower holds B.S and M.B.A. degrees from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and a Ph.D. in Risk Management and Insurance from Georgia State University. She completed additional study at the Harvard University Institute for Educational Management. In 2011, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Commercial Science degree from St. John’s University.

Sam received Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Actuarial Science degrees from Georgia State University. While at Georgia State, he was a member of Beta Gamma Sigma and Outstanding Young Men of America. He served as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. Sam was a fellow of the Society of Actuaries, member of the American Academy of Actuaries, member of Actuaries in Public Practice, associate of the Institute of Actuaries in the U.K., and member of the Deusche Gesellschaft fuer Versickeringsmathematica (West Germany). Sam served as Senior Vice President (Emerging Markets) for Southland Life (ING – North America), as President and CEO of Life Insurance Company of Virginia, and as Director of Life Operations-Europe for ITT/Hartford in London, England. Over his career, he served on the boards of businesses, educational institutions, and charitable organizations alike. Sam has been recognized as a Distinguished Alumni of GSU’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business (formerly the GSU College of Business Administration).

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Teresa Winer has been an actuary working with the Georgia Office of Insurance Commissioner since April 2012, in regulating health insurance and other product filings. Prior to this role, Teresa was a manager at Risk Lighthouse, serving clients and overseeing the development of risk quantification methods for financial services businesses and has performed various actuarial roles with J. M. Bragg and Associates, Inc., Chastain Financial Services, Confederation Life, and Life of Georgia. Teresa served as Vice-President on the SOA (Society of Actuaries) Board of Directors 2015-2017; as a SOA Board Member 2003-2006, volunteer at the Fellowship Admissions Course 2012-2018, chaired at the Actuary of the Future Section Council and the Personal Actuary Working Group, and Served on the AAA-SOA Cancer Claims Cost Table Working Group.

Brady is a principal owner of Strategic Risk Solutions, Inc. and the firm’s President and CEO. Brady has over 25 years of captive insurance experience and has worked with U.S. and European companies in most industries to assess the need for and optimize the role of their captive insurers. He has been involved in the formation of numerous captives and has provided strategic and operational consulting to many of SRS’s clients.

Prior to joining SRS in 1993, Brady spent eight years with Tillinghast-Towers Perrin. As Principal in the firm, he managed the London, Boston, and Toronto risk management practices and worked on a variety of risk management and captive related assignments for corporations and groups covering a wide spectrum of risks and industries.

Brady has served with distinction as Chair and as Trustee of the GSU Risk Management Foundation over the past decade and is active with Robinson College initiatives.

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