Big ‘I’ Agents Honor Wilson with Yates Lifetime Achievement Award

The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (Big “I”) has awarded Bill Wilson with the Jeff Yates Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest honor the association bestows on a non-agent, for a lifetime of work in the independent agency system.

Wilson is Big “I” associate vice president of education and research and Virtual University director and a well-known insurance educator, coverage expert, management advisor and writer.

Wilson joined the Big “I” team in 1999. He previously served as director of education and technical affairs for the Insurors of Tennessee and was a licensed insurance and surplus lines agent. Wilson’s professional affiliations include having served as president of the Middle Tennessee Chapter of CPCU, board member of the national CPCU Society, member of the Society of Insurance Trainers and Educators (SITE) and its SITE Journal editorial committee, and an instructor for insurance and risk management programs for Tennessee State University and Nashville State Technical Institute. Wilson is a recipient of the CPCU Society’s George M. Gottheimer Memorial Award for making an outstanding contribution to the field of insurance education, risk management or insurance consulting.

“The Big ‘I’ is proud to present Bill Wilson with the Jeff Yates Lifetime Achievement Award for his remarkable career dedicated to the independent insurance agent community,” said Randy Lanoix, Big “I” chairman and president of Lanoix Insurance Agency in Lutcher and Brusly, Louisiana, who presented the award during the annual Big “I” Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C.

“Bill is one of the premiere insurance educators in the country and has helped thousands of agents nationwide–from Hawaii to Rhode Island–on a variety of issues including insurance coverage technical matters, agency management concerns and more through the VU’s ‘Ask an Expert’ service and has given hundreds of seminars, workshops and convention presentations.”

“Bill has been quoted in hundreds of news stories and his writings published in dozens of trade and business publications,” said Lanoix. “Many in our industry and the media view him as the ultimate insurance guru and we are tremendously lucky to have him on our team.”

The Jeff Yates Lifetime Achievement Award was established in 2013 in honor of Jeff Yates, a 39-year veteran of the Big “I” who served in numerous capacities within the association from 1975 to 2014. In 1998 he was named CEO and first retired in 2000. In 2001 he returned to the Big “I” to lead the ACT program as executive director and retired in 2014.

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