Donald and Patricia Gongaware

Insuring the Future

“自然,哲学家伯纳德·斯宾诺莎曾说过, “厌恶真空”，并迅速采取行动填补真空.

同样，唐公华的本性似乎也厌恶真空.

在他的案例中, the perceived vacuum was a lack of educational opportunities for those interested in pursuing management careers in the insurance industry.

His feelings about this subject were based on his personal experiences and observations during his long and distinguished career.

“我以一种经典的方式进入这个领域——偶然,唐说。, who retired in March 1998, 担任首席运营官兼执行副总裁. “我的学校只剩下一个学期了，而我的《澳门合法赌场官网》也快到期了. 我家里有妻子和三个孩子，不用说，我需要补充收入.

“一家职业介绍所问我是否想成为一名团体承销商. 虽然薪水不高，但我还是把它当作一份临时工作，一直干到拿到学位为止. 30年后，我从保险行业退休了."

As his career progressed, he began to notice that he wasn't the only one who had been introduced to the business in this fashion.

“有一件事一直让我有点困扰，那就是你可以从注册会计师那里毕业, you could graduate attorneys, and you could graduate actuaries. 保险行业的毕业生经理人在哪里? 没有人接受过保险概览和策略方面的培训，”他说. "I asked myself: 'Why is this?'"

What he discovered was that even with the development of a number of excellent insurance studies programs at American universities over the past several years, 等式中还缺少一些东西.

"I saw that there is really no niche for general insurance management studies in our universities, 即使现在这个领域有很多优秀的项目,他解释道. “除了精算学等澳门合法赌场官网之外, 会计, and finance - as important as these are - nobody is really teaching students and industry per se.

"There's no focus on the concept of insurance, 在这个极其复杂的行业中真正涉及到的是什么, or on how it operates in today's world,他补充道. “我觉得这种情况需要得到解决."

所以贡瓦雷和他的妻子帕特搬去填补这个空缺.

他们选择的方式是1999年的一份500万美元的礼物, the largest in Indiana State's history - to be used to fund an endowment for the Donald and Patricia Gongaware中心 for Insurance 管理 Development.

"Our ambition is to make ISU's Insurance and Risk 管理 Program the top program in North America," says ISU President John W. 摩尔. “公觉的礼物不仅能让我们追求这个目标，还能让我们实现这个目标."

Through the auspices of the Center, a number of activities and initiatives designed to raise the profile of Indiana State's insurance program and enhance management training opportunities for insurance executives will be embarked upon. 这些包括:

The creation of the Gongaware 学者 Program, which will award eight four-year scholarships and two two-year scholarships to transfer students;
 
The naming of four Gongaware Professors from various disciplines who will have the opportunity to pursue internships in the insurance industry;
 
保险业高层管理人员发展计划的制定
 
The establishment of a Summer Insurance Academy for mid-level executives; and
 
针对行业需求的研讨会和讲座.

公益中心的活动将不局限于校园. 将在印第安纳波利斯地区建立一个卫星中心, 哪个是全国第三大保险中心, to allow those working in the industry broader access to the Center's continuing education programs.

"My goal for the programs embodied in the Center is to raise the sights of the University and to attract qualified candidates to learn more about the industry,唐说. "I'm interested in improving the management skills of executives at all levels of the industry - not just CEOs - and I think this program will do much to accomplish that."

从1991年开始，国际州立大学就开始了将Gongaware中心变为现实的历程. 拉里·科尔曼, 谁是国际滑联保险和风险管理项目的主席, 邀请龚嘉华出任保险业谘询委员会委员.

"He came up to my office in Carmel and asked me to be on the board of some advisory council at some school in Terre Haute - a city I had never visited,"

"He was quite persuasive, and I agreed to give it a go,龚觉说。, who continues to serve on the council. “随着时间的推移，坦率地说，我爱上了这所大学和它的人."

Gongaware, 他是加州州立大学萨克拉门托分校的校友, 也开始尊重国际滑联国家认可的保险和风险管理计划. Still, despite all of the good things he saw, he felt that more could be done with the program.

“我开始思考我们可以做些什么来加强保险计划，”他说. “和以前一样好, I believed we needed to do something more with it if it was really to meet the needs of the industry."

That something more turned out to be the Gongaware中心 - an idea that began to take shape about a year ago over dinner with ISU President John W. 摩尔 and ISU's director of Development.

"We were talking about what we could do to enhance the insurance program and how we could realize President 摩尔's vision of it becoming the finest insurance program in North America,他说. "Things started snowballing from there."

"We didn't discuss money at the time, but I asked the two of them to go back to campus and develop a program that would stimulate the insurance department, 他们做到了,他补充道. "Everything in it - the center, 奖学金, and the professorships - was structured in a way that appealed to me and to what I wanted to accomplish. 帕特和我商量了一下，决定500万美元是合适的数额."

公卫中心的“现实世界”定位并非偶然. 加纳人非常重视实践经验.

“我会告诉学生们从大学开始进入真实的世界,帕特说。, "and not to wait until after they graduate. They need to be visionary about their education by looking ahead and not just focusing on what they need to do to get through the next day. I think those students who choose to participate in and understand the world at-large will have a leg up on the competition and will be the most successful."

并补充说, "Those students interested in insurance - or other aspects of business - need to stay tuned to what is going on in the financial world. They should read the Wall Street Journal and watch the financial news shows on television everyday."

Don's retirement notwithstanding, 他和帕特打算继续活跃在中心，不打算离开印第安纳州, their home for the past 13 years.

“我们真的很喜欢印第安纳州和这里的人，”帕特说. “我们在这里建了家，这就是我们要住的地方."

All of which will make it easier for them to continue to be involved in the activities of the Center.

“我们俩都将成为监督中心活动的董事会成员,帕特说。, "and I know Don plans to stay active with the Insurance Advisory Council and the ISU 基金会."

唐将来也可能以某种身份从事教学工作.

“这是我一直在考虑做兼职或访问的角色. 我绝对认为自己能有所贡献。.

The Gongawares also plan to "take a great interest" in those students who are named Gongaware scholars.

"We most definitely will follow them through their college years and into their professional careers,帕特说.

未来，似乎不会给加纳人留下真空.

That just wouldn't be natural for them.

Terrie Troxel named executive director

从7月1日开始, 2006, Terrie Troxel began his new position as executive director of the Indiana State's Gongaware中心 for Insurance 管理 Development. Troxel was welcomed to the ISU family in April 2006 when he joined the faculty in the College of Business.

Troxel毕业于伊利诺伊卫斯理大学. He earned his master's and Ph.D. 在宾夕法尼亚大学获得管理科学和应用经济学学位. 他还在牛津大学完成了伦敦劳合社高管教育课程. He has served as president and chief executive of the American Institute for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters and as the executive director for the Insurance Research Council, 公司.

此外，Troxel还与全国独立保险公司协会合作, been an associate professor at the University of Nevada and University of North Texas and is a current member of many organizations.(从“Troxel named new director of Gongaware中心", StudentMedia, August 18, 2006)

重组

2007年秋季，学院开设了新的金融服务澳门合法赌场官网和辅修澳门合法赌场官网. 学生 electing for that course of study must take Introduction to Insurance and Risk 管理, Introduction to Financial 服务, Business and Society (Ethics), 投资和金融机构作为核心课程. 每个攻读新澳门合法赌场官网的学生都可以选择完成12个学分的会计课程, 银行, insurance and risk management or investments.

为这一扩大的金融服务计划提供支持, student activities of the insurance and risk management program are being combined with those of the Gongaware中心, which has hired additional personnel, 并且正在重新分配教职员工和新员工的职责.

该中心还聘请了Terre Haute的丽贝卡·肖特(Rebecca Shorter)担任职业发展主管. 她的职责包括指导与奖学金项目有关的活动, student recruiting and mentoring, career development, internships and job placement. Shorter graduated in 2005 from ISU, where she was a Gongaware Scholar, 主修保险、风险管理和金融.

She later earned her 工商管理硕士 from ISU in 2007. 在获得工商管理硕士学位期间，她还担任过网络研究生研究员. 自2004年以来，她一直是全国保险公司的许可合伙人, 主要经营人身财产和意外伤害保险, 2007年夏天和秋天，她是商学院的讲师. (从“ISU Gongaware中心 announces restructuring", Tribune Star, January 29, 2008)