CPCU Society Announces 2009-2010 Officers and Directors

The Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters Society issued the following news release:

The CPCU Society announced its new officers and directors during its 65th Annual Meeting and Seminars in Denver, Colo., Aug.29-Sept.1. These new positions are effective immediately.

The following officers of the board have been officially elected:

CPCU Society President and Chairman: Douglas J. Holtz, CPCU, CIC, CSP, CRM, is a commercial underwriting consultant at the School Product Management Group of the Liberty Mutual Agency Markets in Indianapolis. He has served the Society as a Governor, and as a member of the Executive and Audit Committees. He is a past president of the Society's Central Indiana Chapter, where he also served in other chapter offices and on numerous committees. In 2006, Holtz received the Mark W. Gray Award from the Central Indiana Chapter, and in 2007, the Insurance Company Professional of the Year Award from the Independent Insurance Agents of Indiana. He is a member of the American Society of Safety Engineers and the Society of CIC, and serves on the board of directors of the National Alliance Research Academy in Austin, Texas. Holtz earned his MBA from Anderson University and his undergraduate degree from Central Michigan University.

CPCU Society President-Elect: Warren L. Farrar, CPCU, CLU, ChFC, is assistant vice president-claims for State Farm. He will serve as the Society's 2010-2011 president and chairman. He has served on the Society's Board as Interest Group Governor and on its Audit Committee, Executive Committee and Governance Overview Board Working Group. He joined the Society's Loss Control Interest Group Committee in 1992 and served as its chairman from 1996 to1998. Farrar joined State Farm as a commercial underwriter in 1975 after earning a master's degree in science from the University of Nebraska, from which he also holds his undergraduate degree. In addition to his Society volunteer work, Farrar and his wife were co-chairs of the OSF St. Francis annual fundraiser in 2006.

CPCU Society Vice President: Steve McElhiney, CPCU, MBA, ARe, AIAF, is president of EWI Risk Services, Inc., a reinsurance intermediary based in Dallas and a subsidiary of NL Industries. He is also president of Tall Pines Insurance Company of Vermont. Over the last two decades his experience includes service with Fireman's Fund, TIG Specialty, Overseas Partners US Reinsurance Group and Argonaut Group. He is author of Reinsurance Commutations, a required reading for the Associate in Reinsurance (ARe) designation. McElhiney holds an MBA and Bachelor of Science degree, cum laude, from the University of Southern California. He serves as a board member of North America's SuperCorridor Coalition, Inc., and is a member of the Leadership Council of the Texas Health Research and Education Institute.

Continuing his service on the Board is CPCU Society Secretary/Treasurer Brian P. Savko, CPCU, CLU, ChFC, a team manager in State Farm's Murfreesboro, Tenn. Office. Savko, who served as the Society's 2008-2009 Secretary-Treasurer, is serving a second term. He has been a member of the Society's Budget and Finance Committee since 1999, and has served as president, vice president and secretary of its Mid-Tennessee Chapter. He holds a master's degree in financial services from the American College in Bryn Mawr, Pa. Savko is a member of the Society of Financial Service Professionals and is a Knights of Columbus volunteer.

Also continuing his service on the board is Marvin Kelly, CPCU, MBA, the CPCU Society's Immediate Past President. Kelly, who served as the Society's 2008-2009 president and chairman, is executive director of the Texas Property and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Association. He has worked as senior casualty underwriter for Transamerica Insurance Company in Hartford, Connecticut, and commercial lines underwriter for Chubb & Son Insurance in Pittsburgh, PA. He served as the risk manager for the City of Beaumont and City of Austin in the state of Texas for six years. Kelly retired as a major in 1996 from the US Army Reserves.

He has received numerous accolades, including a Teaching Excellence Award at the University of Texas in 1999; the James A. Johnston Award in 1999; and the CPCU National Standard Setter Award in 2000-2001. He has 27 years of experience in the field of insurance. He holds a BS in insurance from the University of Hartford, and an MBA in risk management and insurance from Walden University.

The following are newly-elected directors, who will sere three-year terms:

U.K. "Rick" Becker, CPCU, CLU, ChFC, is director of sales operations for the Northeastern States Operation of Nationwide Insurance Company. He was the Society's East Central Regional Governor from 2005 to 2008; is a past president of the Society's Alamo and Central Virginia Chapters; and was a member of the Underwriting Interest Group Committee for 12 years, serving as editor of that Group's newsletter from 2001 to 2005. He has served on various industry boards, including those of the Texas Property and Auto Insurance Plans, the Virginia Auto Insurance Property Insurance Plans and the Drive Smart Virginia Advisory Board.

David O. Bisbee, CPCU, MBA, ARM, ARP, is a senior partner of Experiential Partners in Dover, Ohio. He chaired the Society's 2007 and 2009 Annual Meeting Task Forces; served as the Society's Southeast Region Governor from 2001 to 2004; and was a member of its Executive Committee from 2003 to 2004. He is a past president, vice president, secretary and treasurer of the Northern Indiana Chapter; and a past president and board member of the North Central Florida Chapter. Bisbee is also active in the Lions Club, United Way, March of Dimes and Boy Scouts of America.

Eli E. Shupe, Jr., CPCU, AMIM, is an underwriting director in the Commercial Lines Department of The Cincinnati Insurance Companies in Fairfield, Ohio. He is a past president and has held all elective offices in the Cincinnati Chapter. He served from 2006 to 2009 as the Society's East Central Regional Governor, and is a past chair of the Loss Control Interest Group Committee. Shupe is a past member of the Board of Trustees of Insuring the Children in Southwest Ohio and Northern Kentucky, and a volunteer for several fine arts organizations.

Thomas E. Woods, CPCU, is assistant vice president of USAA in San Antonio, Texas. He served as the Society's Western Region Governor from 2001 to 2004, and is a past president, vice-president and president-elect of the Pikes Peak Chapter. He also serves on the Alumni Board of Directors and Executive Advisory Council of Texas Lutheran University, where he earned his bachelor's degree. In 2008 he earned a master's degree in organization leadership from Regis University.

Also, F. Scott Addis, CPCU, is serving a one year term from 2009 to 2010 as Society At-Large Director by appointment of Society President and Chairman Holtz. Addis is president and chief executive officer of The Addis Group, an insurance brokerage and risk management consulting firm in King of Prussia, Pa. A graduate of Princeton University, he was recognized in 2004 as one of the "25 Most Innovative Agents in America" by the National Alliance for Insurance Education and Research and Rough Notes magazine. His company was named 2003 Agency of the Year by the National Underwriter magazine. Addis is a past chairman of the Main Line Chamber of Commerce and has served as a United Way key campaigner.

Contact: Stephen Young, CPCU Society, 610/251-2738, syoung@cpcusociety.org

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