People – South Central
Lockton Dunning Benefits (LDB), based in Dallas, promoted Ken Dowell to executive vice president. He has been involved in the healthcare industry since 1986 and is a specialist in helping organizations maximize their overall pharmacy objectives.
In 2010, Dowell founded Excelsior Solutions which merged with Lockton in 2012. Excelsior Solutions is comprised of pharmacists, specialty drug experts and former PBM executives focused exclusively on pharmacy benefit management.
Excelsior’s pharmacy benefit management specialties include PBM contract optimization, formulary management, specialty pharmacy consulting and predictive modeling.
LBD also promoted Steve Idoux from vice president to senior vice president. He is responsible for new business development, client retention, associate development and strategic direction of the firm.
Idoux has more than 14 years of experience with employer health and welfare plans. He joined Lockton Dunning Benefits in 2007 as a vice president. Since joining LDB, he has been the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions, such as being named to Dallas Business Journal’s Top 40 under 40 list in 2015.
Shellie Granzow joined the Texas-based independent insurance brokerage firm, RHSB, as vice president of Personal Client Services and Private Client Practice Group.
Granzow will oversee the Personal Client Services department including operation and staff, delivery of accurate and professional customer service to personal lines clients, as well as directly servicing select high net worth clients. She will also liaison with insurance carriers to maintain or further develop relationships.
Granzow has more than 25 years’ experience in the insurance industry. She comes most recently from Insureon where she was vice president of Account Management and Business Development. She has worked for Kenneth Fernandez American Family Insurance in Indiana and also has past experience working for Midwest Employers Casualty Co.
RHSB is a member of Assurex Global, and has offices in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas.
The general counsel for the Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas (SLSOT), Alex Gonzales, has been selected as a Texas Super Lawyer for 2016 by Texas Monthly. Gonzales, with Winstead PC, has served as general counsel for SLSOT for 25 years.
He was a former associate commissioner of insurance (Legal and Compliance) at the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI), where he developed the concept for TDI’s Insurance Fraud Bureau.
From 2002-2003, Gonzales served as the chair of the American Bar Association’s Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section. He was appointed by the Supreme Court of Texas as a member of the Board of Disciplinary Appeals from 1994 to 2000.
Gonzales also has been selected by his peers as one of The Best Lawyers in America 2017.
Lockton named six executives in Houston to key roles in its expanding Energy and Marine risk management practice.
Tim Woodard will serve as senior vice president and director of Energy and Marine.
He has been with Lockton for 18 months after more than a decade of risk management and legal experience at McDermott International, a global energy services company. Woodard has extensive experience in risk management strategy and building and guiding successful, growing organizations.
Mike O’Reilly has been named a senior advisor to the Energy and Marine team. O’Reilly will work with clients on developing customized risk management solutions and insurance programs.
He has more than 35 years of experience in the energy industry as an enterprise risk expert and risk manager, most recently as vice president for Risk Management at Pride International.
James R. “Jimmy” Brooks has been named director in the Energy and Marine team.
Brooks is a long-time energy insurance professional including time as a broker, wholesaler, cover-holder and underwriter, starting with Global Special Risks (GSR) and leading the formation of Rockbridge Underwriting Agency and BCC Underwriting Catlin during the past 20 years. He is well-known and well-regarded for his entrepreneurial and innovative approaches to risk management throughout the energy sector.
Linda Skiles will take on new responsibilities as a key strategic broker leader in the Energy and Marine team at Lockton.
Skiles is a respected 15-year Lockton veteran with more than 30 years of market and risk management experience throughout the energy sector. She will continue to work closely with energy industry clients and with Lockton Associates to structure and manage complex risks and tailor specialized insurance programs.
Kevin Siskis a new senior vice president-account executive in Lockton’s Energy and Marine group in Houston, working with clients on casualty insurance programs.
He is regarded as a leading expert in contract risk management and complex casualty programs, and has been with Aon for the past 11 years
Patrick Hedrick joined Lockton as senior vice president-account executive, working closely with clients with complex casualty insurance programs, both in energy and non-energy industries. He joins Lockton after retiring from insurance broker Marsh as a managing director in 2015. He has more than 30 years of experience advising clients in energy, refining, real estate and hospitality industries.
Gregory Rubel joined Argo Group subsidiary, Colony Specialty, as senior vice president and head of binding operations in Dallas/Fort Worth area.
Rubel joins Colony Specialty from Ace Westchester where he served as senior vice president, binding authority. Prior to Ace Westchester, Rubel served as regional president, Market Mid South at Markel Corp. At Markel, he additionally served as executive vice president, Markel Southwest Underwriters and as assistant vice president, Shand Morahan & Co.
Texas-based The Parks Group’s Lana Parks is this year’s recipient of the Richard M. Bouhan Legislative Advocacy Award from the National Association of Professional Surplus Lines Offices (NAPSLO).
Parks serves as co-chair of the Legislative Committee for NAPSLO and has been dedicated to advocacy in advancing the legislative interests of the surplus lines industry.
She served on the board of directors of the Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas (SLSOT) from 2010 – 2012. In 2012, Parks was elected as chairman of the board, becoming the second female to hold the position in SLSOT’s history.During Parks’ tenure as board chairman, SLSOT saw a growth in premium of 23.6 percent due to changes from the Non-Admitted and Reinsurance Reform Act of 2011.
She holds the Certified Insurance Counsel (CIC) and the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designations.
Parks has also served as president of The Texas Surplus Lines Association (TSLA), the board of governors of the CPCU, and the Fort Worth Chapter of CPCU Society.
Jordan Russell has been appointed to serve on the Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation Commission.
Russell succeeds Dr. LeRoy Young, who resigned from the commission effective Oct. 3. He will serve the remainder of Young’s term, which expires in August 2019.
Russell’s appointment still must be confirmed by the Oklahoma Senate.
An attorney, Russell was previously policy director and counsel to Oklahoma House Speaker Jeff Hickman. Before that, he worked as a practicing attorney with the Gungoll, Jackson, Box & Devoll law firm in Oklahoma City, where he worked on the defense of many personal injury and employment law cases and assisted with workers’ compensation cases.