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Susan Gropp has been elected president of the Texas Surplus Lines Association Inc. Gropp is executive vice president of Arcana Insurance Services in Dallas.

Other newly elected officers include: Vice President Kathy van Eeten, senior vice president — regional marketing, Crump Insurance Services Inc. in Austin; and Secretary/Treasurer Lorrie Cheshier, vice president/branch manager at McClelland & Hine Inc. in San Antonio.

New TSLA directors are: Teri Brinson, M.D. Jensvold & Co. Inc.; Larry Mennes, IMS/London American; Tiffany Way, MarketScout Wholesale LLC; Jeff Goldade, Liberty International Underwriters; and Jay Wagoner, Hallmark Specialty Insurance Co.

Existing directors are: Penny Coody, Delta General Agency Corp.; Shawn Fabors, RISC Inc.; Karen Grubbs, RSI International Inc.; Susan Hancock, McClelland & Hine Inc.; Randle Loving, Texas Commercial Insurance Facilities; and Robert McEwen, The Parks Group Inc.

The TSLA Executive Committee consists of the current officers and immediate Past President Todd Teitell of AmWINS Brokerage of Texas.

The TSLA “President’s Award” was presented to Judy Etheredge, Aon Risk Services, chairperson of the Regulatory Liaison Committee. The “Don King Committee Member of the Year” award was presented to Gil Hine, McClelland & Hine Inc. for his work with the TSLA Late Filing Taskforce.

The Avrohm Wisenberg scholarship recipients were David Bailey, AmWINS Brokerage of Texas, and Jack Naderhoff, Jr., RPS — Leicht. The scholarships are donated to TSLA by The National Alliance.

MarketScout Wholesale LLC won the CAM/ACSR scholarship from the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas.

Texas Mutual Insurance Co. promoted Jeff Lentz from senior manager of underwriting and marketing to vice president of underwriting.

Lentz joined Texas Mutual in 2004 as manager of underwriting and marketing in the company’s Dallas regional office.

Lentz has more than 18 years of experience executing underwriting strategies and more than 11 years in management. Prior to joining Texas Mutual, Lentz held underwriting management positions for Royal & Sunalliance USA.

The Federation of Insurance Women of Texas, or FIWT, has installed new officers for 2012. Newly elected officers are: President Conya Harris of Johnston Fiss Insurance; President-elect JoAnna Ringel, Bliss and Glennon; Vice President Vanessa Torres, Litchfield Special Risks Inc.; Recording Secretary Gigi Heffernan, Heffernan Insurance Agency and Corresponding Secretary Sharon Foster, Barnard Insurance Group.

Immediate Past President Linda Saupp, Texas Specialty Underwriters, chairs the executive committee.

Insurance and risk management students at four Texas universities were recently awarded a total of $40,000 in academic scholarships from the Insurance Council of Texas (ICT) Education Foundation. The students attend St. Mary’s University, Baylor University, the University of North Texas and the University of Texas at Austin. Each student received a $2,000 scholarship.

ICT scholarships recipients at St. Mary’s are Drew Elder, Jeremy Fonteneaux, Kathryn Maakestad, Luis Montealegre and Stefanie Ransom-Becker.

University of North Texas students receiving ICT scholarships are Charles Taylor, Chase Russell, Ottonian Tate, Esequiel Nathal and Adrian Mussgnung.

Baylor University students receiving ICT scholarships are Laura Witherspoon, Colleen MacCrory, Kristy Lemish, Cristina Galvan and Jed Dean.

The University of Texas at Austin students receiving ICT scholarships are Alexandra Barney, Li Chen, Judit Foldes, Austin Sims and Megan Pishnick.