Feb. 26, 2010
Contact:
Renee DeGross Valdes, 404-413-1353
University Relations
ATLANTA – Georgia State University has received a $1 million gift from The American Association of Managing General Agents (AAMGA) to create a new Distinguished Chair in Risk Management and Insurance at the J. Mack Robinson College of Business.
The gift is the largest of its kind involving a business school and an insurance trade association. It is being funded by members and associate members of the AAMGA.
Through its collaboration with Georgia State, AAMGA’s 400 member companies and their 10,000 employees will have access to the latest research in the field of risk management and insurance, preferred access to Robinson College executive education offerings, the opportunity to recruit Robinson graduates on the Georgia State University campus, and the ability to leverage the latest in educational technology.
“For AAMGA to position itself appropriately for the future, we need an entirely new level of thought leadership,” said Wes Duesenberg Jr., president of Southern Insurance Underwriters Inc., and chair of the AAMGA’s development committee. “Our partnership with Robinson’s highly ranked Risk Management and Insurance Department and its renowned faculty will provide access to the knowledge and instruction needed for our members to excel and our industry to thrive in the 21st century.”
Richard D. Phillips, chair of Robinson’s Risk Management and Insurance Department, said the new association with AAMGA is groundbreaking.
“The exchange of knowledge between the college and a major trade association not only helps AAMGA’s efforts, it also strengthens our faculty’s ability to teach students about the real world problems they’ll be facing as they pursue their careers,” he said.
Each year AAMGA conducts a cycle of training for its active and associate members in various U.S. cities through AAMGA University. Robinson faculty will lecture and conduct workshops on such subjects as leadership, communication and teamwork as part of AAMGA’s Leadership Institute.
Jeff Henry, director of education and professional development for AAMGA University, believes “our association with Robinson’s top ranked programs not only adds substantially to our efforts, it also increases the overall credibility and prestige of AAMGA University.”
The search for the individual who will hold the new AAMGA Distinguished Chair in Risk Management and Insurance will be launched in March and college officials hope to be able to name the new chair holder later this spring.
For more information about AAMGA, please visit: http://www.aamga.org.