The Arkansas Insurance Hall of Fame will induct its inaugural class before a sold-out crowd. The inaugural ceremony is 6 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2015 in the Farris Center on the campus of the University of Central Arkansas.
Arkansas insurance industry leaders, led by Steve Russell, president of Risk Services of Arkansas, established AIHF, which is housed in UCA’s College of Business.
The purpose of the AIHF is to identify and honor individuals with strong ties to the state of Arkansas who have made significant contributions to advance the role of insurance in society. Individuals will be chosen from all segments of the property/casualty insurance, life insurance, health insurance, risk management, and financial services industries, including agents, company employees, insurance regulators, and entrepreneurs who created companies and agencies.
UCA, the only university in Arkansas with an undergraduate degree program in insurance and risk management, was chosen as the host and beneficiary of the AIHF.
The inaugural Arkansas Insurance Hall of Fame (AIHF) inductees are below:
Lenita Blasingame
Arkansas Department of Insurance (retired), El Paso, Ark.
Lenita Blasingame retired in June 2015 after 50 years with the Arkansas Department of Insurance. She served under 14 insurance commissioners. During her employment, she worked in or supervised most of the divisions in the department, serving as Chief Deputy Commissioner at the time of her retirement. During her career she received many awards, including the “Robert Dineen Award” which is the most prestigious award given by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and recognizes career regulators for outstanding achievement and service.
Jay Bradford
First Arkansas Insurance (retired), Pine Bluff, Ark.
Jay Bradford spent more than four decades in the insurance industry, including 30 years as founder, chairman and former shareholder of First Arkansas Insurance Group, a statewide network of independent property and casualty agencies. He also served 24 years in the Arkansas Legislature and two years as the director of the Division of Behavioral Health Services within the Arkansas Department of Human Services. Bradford was appointed commissioner of the Arkansas Department of Insurance in 2009 and served until 2015.
George Frazier
Anderson & Frazier Insurance Agency (posthumous), Hope, Ark.
George Frazier was a true leader in the insurance industry, not just in Arkansas, but nationally. He served as president of the Independent Insurance Agents of Arkansas (1961), and he is the only Arkansan ever to be elected president of the Independent Insurance Agents of America (1977). At his installation in 1977, he introduced the country to then Arkansas Attorney General Bill Clinton. Frazier’s mantra all of his life was one of service to God, country and community. He excelled at mentoring young men in the community, especially those without fathers or supportive families. Frazier passed away October 20, 2013.
Robert Carl “Bob” Hickman
Hickman Insurance Agency (posthumous), Little Rock, Ark.
Robert Carl “Bob” Hickman was one of the top life insurance men in a trillion-dollar industry. He wrote himself into the insurance record books in Arkansas with over $500 million of life insurance in force – more than many life insurance companies. A 1982 Arkansas Gazette article labeled him the “insurance wizard.” He sold his first life insurance policy during his lunch hour while he attended the last day of Union Life Insurance Company’s insurance school. Hickman was a member of the Million Dollar Roundtable for 29 years, but actually sold more than $25 million a year. He was the first agent in Arkansas to earn five or more consecutive memberships on the Top of the Table – an organization that annually identifies the nation’s top life insurance agents.
Tad Krug
BancorpSouth Insurance Services, Little Rock, Ark.
Tad Krug was president and CEO of Ramsey, Krug, Farrell and Lensing, Inc., a subsidiary of BancorpSouth Insurance Services, Inc. Rough Notes magazine, the nation’s leading source of insurance innovations, trends, products and services shaping independent agencies and the property and casualty industry, once named Krug one of the 25 Most Innovative Insurance Agents in America. He is past president of the Independent Agents of Arkansas and served two different terms on the Board of Governors of the Society of Certified Insurance Counselors, based in Austin, Texas. Krug has also served as chairman of the Arkansas Insurance Commissioners Council for Insurance Licensing and Examinations and board chairman for the Arkansas Professional Liability Re-Insurance Exchange. Over the years, he has served on the agent’s advisory panels of Cigna Insurance, CNA Insurance, Commercial Union Insurance and the national council of The St. Paul Companies.
Allan E. Meadors
Meadors, Adams & Lee Insurance, Little Rock, Ark.
Allan E. Meadors graduated from the University of Central Arkansas with a degree in business administration and served in the Navy in the Korean War before going to work for United States Fidelity & Guarantee Co. In 1964, Meadors formed what is known today as Meadors, Adams & Lee Insurance Agency. He served many years on the board of the Independent Insurance Agents of Arkansas, as well as boards of many Little Rock religious and charitable organizations. Meadors has been called “The Rock of Gibraltar in insurance in Arkansas” and has a simple business philosophy:
- Have a passion for what you do
- Make decisions in the best interest of the customer
- Be honest in all your dealings
Walter H. “Jiggs” Ramsey Jr.
The ASA Group, Little Rock, Ark.
Walter H. “Jiggs” Ramsey Jr. is chairman and founder of Advisor Services of America Group, a multi-carrier wholesale distributor of quality life insurance, long-term care insurance, disability income insurance and annuity products located in Little Rock. He has held all the offices of the Central Arkansas Chapter of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA), as well as a state board member, and chairman of their Arkansas Political Action committee. Additionally, the Central Arkansas Chapter of the NAIFA previously named him “Agent of the Year”. Ramsey has served on the board of BRAMCO Financial Resources, and has served as Chairman of The National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies, the premiere insurance industry organization promoting financial security and consumer choice through the use of independent brokerage distribution, and has been a pillar in the brokerage community for over 40 years.
Steve Strange Sr.
American Management Corporation, Conway, Ark.
Steve Strange Sr., CEO of American Management Corporation (AMC), is a businessman, civic leader and philanthropist in Conway. Strange grew up in California but attended Hendrix College. Upon graduation he returned to California where he held high-level positions with several well-known insurance organizations before returning to Arkansas where he purchased an insurance firm that is known today as American Management Corporation. Through his hard work and service-oriented business plan, AMC grew to become a highly respected and specialized national managing general agency serving insurance carriers, petroleum companies, franchise operations and independent insurance agents and brokers.
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