People

Pete G. McPartland has been named chief executive officer at Sentry Insurance, a Mutual Company in Stevens Point, Wis. Dale R. Schuh, who previously held the title, will continue to serve as chairman of the board of Sentry, with McPartland assuming active management of overall operations, according to the insurer.

McPartland joined Sentry in 2010 as president and chief operating officer with more than 30 years of experience in the industry, including service with Aetna and Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. He also served in executive positions with General Casualty Co. Prior to joining Sentry, he was president and CEO of Golden Eagle Insurance in San Diego, Calif., a subsidiary of Liberty Mutual Group.

Founded in 1904, Sentry and its subsidiaries provide property and casualty insurance, life insurance, annuities and retirement programs for businesses and individuals throughout the United States.

Cincinnati, Ohio-based Great American Insurance Group has promoted Mark Calkin to divisional president of its trucking division.

Calkin has been with the company since 1980 and joined the trucking division in 2004. He has held various positions of increasing responsibility for the product management, underwriting, IT, actuarial and financial functions and has served as part of the division’s management team.

Calkin has 32 years’ experience in the insurance industry.

Great American’s trucking division provides insurance products for the long-haul trucking industry and specializes in service to independent owner-operators.

The Professional Insurance Agents of Indiana Inc. announced a new slate of officers for 2012. They are: President James Mansfield, Mansfield Insurance Agency Inc., Lawrenceburg, Ind.; President-Elect Hugh Steven Collins, Jim Kitchell Agency, Logansport, Ind.; Vice President Kevin N. Wheeler, Cardinal Insurance Services Inc., Indianapolis, Ind.; Treasurer Raymond E. Gage, Jr., Grabill Insurance Center, Leo, Ind.; and Past President Timothy P. Berner, Berner & Company Inc., Fort Wayne.

An active member of PIA, Mansfield has served on the board since 2008 and PIA’s membership committee since 2009.

Collins has been with the Jim Kitchell Agency for more than 18 years and is a past president of Brevard County Agents Association.

Wheeler has been with Cardinal Insurance Services Inc. for more than 23 years and represents Grange Mutual, State Auto, Selective Insurance, Travelers and Progressive.

Gage is celebrating his 20th year as an independent agent in 2012. He is a Certified Work Comp Advisor (CWCA) and working towards Master Work Comp Advisor (MWCA) designation through the Institute of Work Comp Professionals (IWCP).

Berner, a native of Fort Wayne, Ind., has been in the insurance industry for more than 24 years and has served on the PIA of Indiana board of directors since 2007.

Willis North America, a unit of Willis Group Holdings, appointed Sean McGroarty as national surety leader of Willis North America construction practice.

Previously, McGroarty served as senior vice president and head of international surety with Zurich Financial Services. He has more than 20 years’ experience in the surety industry, which also includes leadership roles at Liberty Mutual Group and St. Paul Companies.

In his new role at Willis, McGroarty will be responsible for directing surety operations across the North American platform. He will report to Rick Hawkinberry, CEO of Willis North America construction practice.

In addition to his North America focus, McGroarty will work closely with John Phinney, head of Willis North America international surety, to expand Willis’ global surety capabilities.

Willis North America construction practice has more than 700 dedicated professionals in over 70 offices, serving roughly 12,000 clients in North America. Globally, Willis’ surety practice serves clients in more than 80 countries.

Thomas J. Nolde has joined the Founders Insurance Co. of Des Plaines, Ill., as chief underwriting officer, commercial lines.

Nolde’s responsibilities include managing the commercial lines underwriting team, as well as broadening Founders’ product base and facilitating entry to non-standard excess and surplus lines other than those currently served by Founders.

He brings to the position executive-level experience at CNA, Guy Carpenter and Employers Re.

United Fire Group Inc., headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, appointed Michael W. Phillips to its board of directors and named Ed Sullivan as a company vice president.

Phillips is the founder and president of Investors’ Actuarial Services LLC, a consulting firm that provides actuarial services to institutional investors and is based in Timonium, Md. Phillips has significant insurance industry experience. He is an actuary and an associate of the Casualty Actuarial Society.

Sullivan is West Coast regional office branch manager for United Fire. He has more than 25 years of experience in the insurance industry having held several underwriting and marketing management positions. He also has extensive knowledge of the California insurance industry. He started at United Fire Group in February 2012.

Beazley Group appointed Sarah Lamberg to the U.S. Private Enterprise underwriting team, strengthening its commitment to small businesses in the technology industry. She is based in Chicago.

Lamberg joins Beazley with nine years of experience in professional liability insurance. She was most recently a senior underwriter with Chartis, which included a focus on technology errors and omissions, network security and privacy liability, and media liability products. Lamberg bound more than $1 million in new business in 2010 during her tenure there.

Lamberg joins a team of seven underwriters, four territory managers and two claims managers that insures companies with up to $35 million in revenue.

Dr. Stephen T. Woods, M.D. has been named medical director at the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC). Woods will be responsible for providing direction in the development of medical policy and oversight for all medical components of BWC.

Woods is a partner at OrthoNeuro Consultants Inc. in Columbus where he practices physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R).

PM&R, also called physiatry, is the branch of medicine that provides integrated care in the treatment of conditions related to the brain, muscles, nerves, and bones due to various medical conditions, trauma, and sports and industrial injuries.

He is also a clinical assistant professor with the Ohio State University (OSU) Medical Center Department of PM&R and a spine care consultant for the OSU Department of Athletics. He formerly was co-medical director of the OSU Comprehensive Spine Center and a physician consultant conducting case reviews for BWC.

He is certified by the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. His professional memberships include the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians, the International Spinal Intervention Society, the American Academy of PM&R, and the Columbus Medical Association.