People

The Texas Surplus Lines Association Inc. announced the election of the following officers and directors: President Len Kaplan, executive vice president and CFO, Delta General Agency, Houston; Vice President Lana Parks, president, The Parks Group Inc., Arlington; and Secretary/Treasurer Paul Rainey, president, RSI International Inc., Arlington.

Newly installed directors are: Cheryl Corson (3-year term), Leicht General Agency, Houston; Lisa Heine (3-year term), Swett & Crawford, Dallas; and Bill Staub (3-year term), RISC Inc. , Dallas.

Existing directors include: Rob Arnold (3-year term), Myron Steves, Houston; Shannon Dahlke (3-year term) McClelland & Hine of Houston LLP, Houston; Steve Franke (3-year term), Scottsdale Insurance Co., Scottsdale, Ariz.; Susan Gropp, Arcana Insurance Services, Dallas; Anita Herzog, Tejas American General Agency, Cedar Park; Bill Reynolds, Atlantic Casualty Insurance Co., Goldsboro, N.C.; Monte Stringer, U.S. Risk LP, Dallas; and Todd Teitell, Colemont Insurance Brokers of Texas LP, Dallas.

TSLA presented its President’s Award to Andy Herbert, chair of the Regulatory Liaison Committee. The Don King Committee Member of the Year award was presented to Judy Etheredge, Aon Risk Services, for her service on the Regulatory Liaison Committee. This award is given out each year in memory of past member and friend, Don King.

The Avrohm Wisenberg scholarship recipients were Kari Nelson of RSI International Inc., and Michelle Vallejo of Austin Surplus Lines Inc. Nelson and Vallejo both received a CIC scholarship. In addition, both recipients will receive a cash prize of $100 once their course is completed. The scholarships are donated to TSLA each year by The National Alliance.

Houston Surplus Lines won the full ACSR scholarship donated to TSLA by the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas.

In addition this year, Myron Steves donated two $250 education scholarships in honor of TSLA Executive Director Jean Patterson’s 25th anniversary. The firms who won these awards were USG Insurance Services of Texas and The Combined Group.

Dallas-based insurance and risk management firm McQueary Henry Bowles Troy L.L.P. (MHBT) announced that Rick Jarrell has joined the Dallas office as senior vice president in the property and casualty group. His primary areas of expertise include the identification of high impact cost drivers, client growth, mergers and acquisitions, as well as effective risk transfer and retention.

Jarrell’s career in the insurance and risk management profession spans more than 25 years, including 20 years as a senior vice president and technology specialist for Marsh USA. Before his tenure at Marsh, Jarrell worked for Liberty Mutual and two independent agencies in the Dallas area.

Nichole Atherton has joined M.D. Jensvold & Co. Inc.’s Houston office as a senior broker. Atherton will be brokering energy accounts, as well as other commercial business. She brings energy underwriting experience to the firm, the company said.

Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Julie Benafield Bowman named Alice Jones as the Arkansas Insurance Department’s new communications director. Her primary responsibilities will be working with the media, coordinating annual reports and newsletters, and performing duties relating to outreach and public awareness.

Prior to joining the Arkansas Insurance Department, Jones was a management project analyst at the Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Commission, where she worked under the direction of Commissioner Bowman for seven years during Bowman’s tenure as chief executive officer of the AWCC.

San Antonio, Texas-based Argonaut Group Inc. announced that Dale H. Pilkington, who currently serves as president of its Colony Group operating subsidiary, has been appointed president of Argonaut Group’s Excess and Surplus Lines segment.

Argonaut Group’s E&S segment writes commercial property and casualty accounts on a primarily non-admitted basis through Colony Group and Argonaut Specialty. Colony underwrites difficult risks that the standard market is unwilling or unable to underwrite due to the unique risk characteristics associated with a class of business or particular insured. Argonaut Specialty, an underwriting manager, focuses on accounts in the non-admitted market larger in size and complexity than those generally targeted by Colony.

Both Colony and Argonaut Specialty will report to Pilkington in his role as president of Excess and Surplus Lines. Pilkington will retain his position as president of Colony Group until a successor is named.

Pilkington joined Colony in 1993 and assumed the role of vice president, Underwriting in 1994. He joined Argonaut Group as part of the acquisition of Colony’s parent company in 2001, and was named president of Colony Group in November 2002.

O. Milton Fine II was appointed as an Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Commission administrative law judge.

Fine has served as Gov. Mike Huckabee’s chief legal counsel since 2004, and has worked in the state attorney general’s office and the governor’s office in several capacities. He was an associate at the law firm of Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard in Little Rock from 1990 to 1992.

ALJ Fine presides over workers’ compensation hearings in District 3 (Baxter, Boone, Cleburne, Conway, Faulkner, Fulton, Independence, Izard, Marion, Pope, Searcy, Stone, Van Buren, and White counties). He shares the ALJ duties in District 3 with Judge Frank Arey.

The AWCC is administrator of the state’s workers’ compensation laws and resolves issues for stakeholders in the workers’ compensation community.

The Insurance Council of Texas recently awarded scholarships to 15 university students.

The University of North Texas scholarship recipients are Bailey Clark, Rustin Goodgion, Travis Gibson, Christina Ngui and Erin Moss.

The University of Texas at Austin scholarship recipients are McKenzie Eakin, Mary Lynne Hess, Amirali Ali, Danielle Painter and Shana Bayer.

Baylor University scholarship recipients are Jeff Davis, Snow Luong, Russell Chance, Stephanie Corley and Brooke Ferguson.

Earlier this year, ICT donated $5,000 to the Glen L. Taylor Endowed Chair in Insurance at the University of North Texas. Since 2002, ICT has awarded $80,000 in academic scholarships to 96 students studying insurance and risk management at Baylor, the University of Texas at Austin and the University of North Texas.

For the second year in a row the Texas Department of Insurance’s Licensing Division has been recognized for its outstanding performance by the Securities and Insurance Licensing Association (SILA). The professional organization named TDI’s Deputy Commissioner of Licensing Matt Ray as its Financial Services Regulator of the Year, the department announced.

Ray was selected as the recipient of the Warren E. Spruill Regulator Recognition Award for 2006 at SILA’s National Education Conference in Florida earlier this year. The award recognizes a state insurance licensing director who demonstrates a special ability and outstanding performance in promoting better regulatory processes, efficiencies and better relationships between the regulator and the industry.

The American Institute of Marine Underwriters recently elected Richard J. Decker, president of AIG Global Marine, as chairman. He succeeds Robert V. Huffert, senior vice president and manager of the ocean marine department and a vice president of Munich Reinsurance America (formerly American Re-Insurance Co.).

Decker becomes the 48th chairman since AIMU was established in 1898. AIMU provides educational programs to its members, serves as an advocate before international, federal and state governments and acts as an information center for the U.S. ocean marine insurance industry.

Decker joined AIG Global Marine in April 2006 and is responsible for the commercial marine portfolio globally. His experience in the insurance industry dates to back to 1969. Previously he served as senior vice president for ocean marine at ACE USA, and before that, worked Royal Insurance Co.

He is also deputy chairman of the National Cargo Bureau and chairman of the Committee on Pilots of the Board of Underwriters of New York and has taught marine cargo insurance at New York University’s School for Continuing Education and at the World Trade Institute.