People

Swantner & Gordon Insurance Agency has added Thomas Peel in the marketing department of the firm’s Houston office.

As a marketing representative, Peel will be responsible for analyzing and placing risk with appropriate insurers and negotiating rates for commercial clients.

Peel has more than 30 years of broad experience working in the broker, agency and insurer arenas. He has managed large risk management accounts and high-dollar claims with focus in the construction, energy, oil and gas production, food, manufacturing and retail industries.

He holds the Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation.

Peel was most recently an Allstate Insurance Agency owner selling personal insurance in San Antonio. Early in his career, he worked at Swantner’s Corpus Christi office for 13 years as a senior executive providing oversight management for the wholly owned surplus lines agency. Peel also previously worked at Marsh USA in San Antonio managing key accounts and at St. Paul Travelers Insurance as an underwriting manager for the South Texas region.

Swantner is the Corpus Christi-based arm of Higginbotham, one of the nation’s largest independent insurance firms with 17 offices in Texas.

Vickie Leal and Kathleen Pekar have joined TDECU Insurance Agency LLC in Lake Jackson, Texas, as the agency’s newest licensed agents.

Leal is serving the insurance needs of community and credit union members in Angleton, Bay City, Brazoria, Freeport, Houston, La Porte, Lake Jackson, Pearland and Texas City. She has been a licensed agent since 2008 in both life and personal lines. Previously, she worked with State Farm and a community-based independent agency. Leal, a lifelong resident of Brazoria County, is fluent in English and Spanish.

Pekar is the servicing agent for the TDECU Insurance Agency. She has been a licensed agent since 2005 when she was a senior member service specialist at USAA. She comes to TDECU with more recent experience at State Farm and a community-based independent agency. Pekar’s specialties are property/casualty, life, accident, health and HMO policies.

Jerry Johns, president of Southwestern Insurance Information Service, announced his intention to retire effective March 1, 2012, after 37 years with the organization.

Johns began his career as vice president of SIIS in Oklahoma City and was elevated to president upon the retirement of his predecessor Darby Hammond.

During his career he expanded SIIS into Missouri and established the Missouri Insurance Information Service, now the Missouri Insurance Council.

The SIIS board of directors is reviewing management succession options.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has named Tony Robinson as the new FEMA Region 6 deputy regional administrator. Region 6 serves five states — Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.

Robinson has been with FEMA since 1987. He has served as the FEMA Region 6 recovery division director for the past seven years, where he was responsible for the administration of recovery programs in the five regional states. He has also provided leadership and oversight during federally declared disasters such as hurricanes Andrew, Katrina, Rita, Ike and Gustav.

Robinson fills the position vacated by Gary Jones upon his retirement in December 2011. Jones served as FEMA Region 6 Deputy Regional Administrator for 17 years.

Houston-based HCC Insurance Holdings Inc. hired Jonathan J. Greenway as president of Avemco Insurance Co. (Avemco) effective Jan. 9, 2012.

Avemco specializes in aviation and pilot insurance and is headquartered in Frederick, Md.

Prior to joining Avemco, Greenway served as captain and check airman with American Airlines and more recently as the director of safety for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) Air Safety Institute. He is an aircraft owner and an active flight instructor.

The Rockhill Insurance Group added Gregory T. Doyle as senior vice president — director of programs.

Doyle has 27 years of wide-ranging industry experience with insurers, reinsurers and brokers, and will be responsible for developing Rockhill’s admitted program business platform.

Rockhill is a subsidiary of State Auto Group, the members of which are rated A (Excellent) by the A.M. Best Co.

Global reinsurance broker U.S. RE Corp. appointed reinsurance veteran James Nelson as senior vice president.

Nelson served more than 30 years at Guy Carpenter, where he rose from treaty broker to managing director. He began his career at Safeco before joining Carpenter in 1978. He also was a director of Balis & Company.

U.S. RE provides reinsurance broking services. The company is active in the placement of treaty, program and facultative reinsurance. U.S. RE also develops and places non-traditional reinsurance mechanisms.