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LoriAnn Lowery resigned her position as president of Lloyd’s North America after a little more than a year on the job.

Lowery took over as Lloyd’s North America president in April 2008, replacing long-time president Wendy Baker. Before joining Lloyd’s, Lowery was a senior executive with Aon.

North Texas-based Higginbotham & Associates appointed Michael J. Hermes senior vice president at its Austin office.

Hermes, a fixture in Austin’s insurance marketplace, will apply his 26 years of experience in property casualty insurance to place commercial coverage and consult on loss control strategies for Central Texas companies.

Hermes joins Higginbotham from Brown & Brown of Austin. He began his insurance career in 1983 at a small Austin agency that he acquired in 1985 and later merged with Balcones-Southwest Inc. Hermes helped steer the subsequent acquisition of Balcones-Southwest by Brown & Brown and maintained a leadership role through 2007.

A Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) since 1988, Hermes is a member of the Society of CICs, the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas and its Austin chapter, the Association for Corporate Growth, and the Austin Technology Council.

FARA, a nationwide insurance services organization based in Mandeville, La., added Laura Tarantino to its executive team as senior vice president and general counsel.

In addition to the overall responsibility of all legal aspects of the business, Tarantino will direct a new product line of services named MRCE. MRCE or Medicare Reporting Compliance Expert uses proprietary Web-based software dealing with Mandatory Medicare Secondary Payer Reporting Requirements.

Prior to joining FARA, Tarantino served as executive vice president, general counsel and secretary for APS Healthcare based in Silver Springs, Md. During her tenure at APS Healthcare, Tarantino managed all legal and regulatory compliance and risk management functions for the $200 million, privately owned, specialty healthcare organization.

Mary K. Stelly of Arnaudville, La., is the 2009 recipient of the Stephen W. Cavanaugh Scholarship, awarded annually by the Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Corp. (LWCC) to an outstanding Louisiana student majoring in an insurance-related field.

Stelly will begin her studies at Louisiana State University this fall majoring in mathematics with a concentration in actuarial science. She will receive the $8,000 scholarship over a four-year period.

LWCC established the Stephen W. Cavanaugh Scholarship Fund in 2006 in honor of Cavanaugh’s leadership and lasting contributions to the insurance industry in Louisiana. He was LWCC’s CEO from the company’s inception in 1992 until his resignation in 2006. Cavanaugh was diagnosed in September 2006 with Stage IV pancreatic cancer and died Nov. 15, 2006, at age 55.

The founding donors of the fund include Aubrey T. Temple Jr.; Community Foundation of Acadiana; Dwight Andrus Insurance Agency; Guy Carpenter & Co. LLC; Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of Louisiana; Knox Insurance Group LLC; Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Corp.; LUBA Casualty Insurance Co.; Star Service Inc.; and Wright & Percy Insurance.

Gregory Smith joined William Gammon Insurance Agency Inc. in Austin, Texas, as commercial lines manager.

An Austin native, Smith comes to Gammon Insurance from Aon Risk Services in Charlotte, N.C., where he was account executive for complex, global risk management accounts including hospitality and healthcare segments. Smith, a risk and insurance management professional with more than 20 years of experience, began his career in Austin with the former Smith-Connolly Co. Inc.

Smith has attained the Certified Insurance Counselor designation, Associate in Risk Management designation and Professional designation from the Academy for Healthcare Management.

Burnett & Co. Inc., a member company of QBE Insurance Group Ltd., added Diana Gladwell and Devin Lefebvre in its Houston office. The duo will underwrite marine liabilities for U.S.-based companies on behalf of the QBE’s Lloyd’s Syndicate 1036.

The new team of marine underwriters will concentrate on writing excess liabilities and traditional marine liability lines other than Hull and P&I for all segments of the marine industry including: vessel operators and marine transportation services (as owner and/or charterer); vessel charterers operations; shipyards (both new construction and ship repair operations); marine terminal operations; stevedore operations; and wharfinger and/or fleeting operations.

San Antonio, Texas-based independent claims adjusting firm IAS Claim Services hired insurance industry veteran Pat Mikel as regional manager of the Houston office.

Mikel has 30 years of experience as a multi-line adjuster with specialized training in floods, windstorms and fire, property and vehicle damage claims of all types. He has worked numerous catastrophic events, including Hurricane Katrina.

IAS Claim Services has offices in Oklahoma, Louisiana, Texas and Virginia.

Two new members were elected to Texas Mutual Insurance Co.’s Board of Directors: Bernie Francis of Carrollton, Texas, and Eric Oliver of Abilene.

Francis is owner and CEO of Addison-based Business Control Systems LP and Dallas-based First Class Caregivers Inc. He also is a member of the board of Dallas-based Senior Quality Lifestyles Corp.

Oliver is founder and president of Softvest LP in Abilene; president of Midland Map Co. LLC in Midland; founder and principal of TenTex Music LLC in Nashville; founder and principal of Geologic Research Centers LLC, with libraries in Abilene and Midland; and founder and owner of Caprock Title Co. in Midland.

The Houston, Texas, chapter of the National Association of Insurance Women installed new officers for 2009-2010. The newly installed officers and directors include: President Deborah Currie; President-Elect Joanne Pearson; Vice President Tiney Taylor; Secretary Elizabeth Clay; Treasurer Margaret Parker; Finance – Carolyn Tennison; Public Relations – Stacey Campo; Program – Sharon Klein; IM Past President Judy Koudelka; and Appointments and Parliamentarian – Frances Runk.

Houston NAIW also recognized new association members during its recent installation dinner. New members are: Alice Hernandez, Holly Griffith Terrell, Shirley Best, Stacey Campo, Sandra Hansen, Sharon Kay Klein, Eileen McCollum, Patricia Stone and Amy Weimer.

Additionally, the group honored Frances Runk for her dedication of 65 years to the association. Runk joined Houston Insurance Women in 1944. She served as local president from 1950-1951 and was named the insurance woman of the year in 1953. She served as national president from 1957-1958.

Austin, Texas-based The National Alliance for Insurance Education & Research named the state award winners who will compete for the national Outstanding Customer Service Representative of the Year for 2009.

Each state winner receives a framed certificate and is eligible to compete for the national honor, which carries a $2,000 cash award, a gold and diamond pin, $1,000 cash award for the nominator, and a scholarship for the recipient’s employer to any program offered by The National Alliance.

The outstanding customer service representatives for 2009 from the South Central region are: Arkansas – Amanda H. Dickey; Louisiana – Brandi L. Lamonte; Oklahoma – Janice D. Mason; and Texas – Rhonda K. Buster.

Topics Texas Excess Surplus Louisiana Lloyd's