Trio Tapped for Hall of Fame

New York — The International Insurance Society (IIS) has announced the three insurance leaders who will be enshrined in the Insurance Hall of Fame Award in 2008. Canada’s Dominic D’Alessandro, India’s G.S. Diwan and American Patrick Ryan will be honored during a gala dinner at the 44th IIS Annual Seminar, which will be held in Taipei, July 14, 2008.

Dominic D’Alessandro was appointed president and CEO of Toronto-based Manulife Financial in 1994. He transformed Manulife from a mutual insurance provider valued at approximately $2 billion, to an international, diversified financial services leader with a market capitalization of more than $60 billion, and led the company to record financial performance.

The late Professor G. S. Diwan, an actuary instrumental in the development of the actuarial profession in India, taught mathematics and actuarial science in Elphinstone College and Sydenham College. Through his teachings, he inspired many young mathematicians to embark on an actuarial career. While his most significant contribution was as India’s foremost teacher of actuarial science, he also achieved distinction as a consultant in other areas, centered on life office valuations, valuations of life interests, gratuity valuations and government service. After his retirement, he worked for the government of Bombay and as a consultant in non-life insurance. 

Patrick Ryan is the founder and Executive Chairman of Chicago-based Aon Corp.—the world's largest insurance and reinsurance intermediary, and a global leader in risk management, insurance and reinsurance brokerage and consulting, which has its origin in a small insurance agency he started in 1964. Under Ryan’s leadership, the company continued to expand through organic growth and acquisition, and in 1987 changed its name to Aon Corp.

Ryan developed one of the most sophisticated management structures in brokerage: networks of local resources delivering services around the world with the expertise to do business in specific locations, not just from its headquarters.  He also was an early proponent of the power of intellectual capital as a strategic business tool and advantage. Today, Aon operates with more than 500 offices in more than 120 countries generating revenues in excess of $7 billion.

To qualify for induction in the Hall of Fame, laureates must demonstrate outstanding leadership and to make a significant and lasting contribution to the insurance industry and, thereby, to society as a whole. Members of the Hall of Fame are selected by the membership of the International Insurance Society in a secret, independently audited ballot. There are currently 119 laureates in the Insurance Hall of Fame from more than 20 countries.

Source: International Insurance Society