Insurance

UA’s Rabel Receives Bickley Innovation, Creativity Award

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Dr. William H. Rabel, John & Mary Louise Loftis Bickley Endowed Teaching Professor of Insurance & Financial Services at The University of Alabama, has been selected as the first faculty recipient of the John Bickley Innovation and Creativity Award for 2008.

Established by Dr. John S. Bickley, emeritus professor of insurance, the award recognizes a faculty member in the Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration who has created an idea to enhance the image of the College in the eyes of the education world. The award is given to a faculty member who has instituted courses of study which are creative and for initiatives which are beneficial to students. The recipient is chosen by a faculty committee which is appointed by the dean of the College.

Rabel led a team of professors that developed the new actuarial science program at the university. A cooperative venture between the mathematics department and the business school, the program is designed to attract gifted students with a quantitative bent to The University of Alabama. Initially Rabel will be responsible for administering and marketing the new program.

“I am overwhelmed to receive the award and thank Dr. Bickley, who founded the award, as well as the selection panel,” Rabel said. “I am pleased to accept the award on behalf of all members of the actuarial science task force. Everyone made an important contribution, and the project would have been less successful if any member had been unable to serve.”

Bickley said, “I believe that students’ lives can be changed forever by innovations in teaching and research that enhances teaching, as well as by new programs like the actuarial science program. I hope that in the future the award will encourage innovations in curriculum, teaching and research.”

To obtain additional information about the Actuarial Science Program at The University of Alabama, visit: http://cba.ua.edu/insurance/programs/actuarial/

The University of Alabama, a student-centered research university, is in the midst of planned, steady enrollment growth with a goal of reaching 28,000 students by 2010. This growth, which is positively impacting the campus and the state's economy, is in keeping with UA's vision to be the university of choice for the best and brightest students. UA, the state's flagship university, is an academic community united in its commitment to enhancing the quality of life for all Alabamians.

Two UA Students Chosen to Attend Insurance, Risk Management National Conferences

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Two students enrolled in The University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Commerce insurance and risk management curriculum have been chosen to attend national conferences.

Vanessa Rolf, 21, of Madison, will attend the Risk and Insurance Management Society’s annual conference in San Diego in April, and Jennifer Hamby recently returned from the National Association of Health Underwriters Capital Conference in Washington.

“I found out about the 2008 RIMS Annual Conference from Dr. William Rabel,” professor of insurance and financial services at The University of Alabama, Rolf said. “Throughout the application process, I had to provide essays about my career goals and objectives, why I have decided to go into risk management, what I would like to learn from the conference, and how attending the conference would help my career goals.”

Rolf, who is majoring in economics with a concentration in insurance, said she is one of 34 students from across the United States to receive the Anita Benedetti Student Involvement Program Award to attend the conference.

“This award, worth about $2,000, includes my conference fees, travel, lodging and some incidental cash. Throughout the week, we will get to meet individually with the industry's leading risk managers who are attending the conference,” she said.

Hamby, 22, of Birmingham, is majoring in finance with a concentration in insurance. “The conference featured outstanding speakers on important topics about health insurance,” Hamby said. She said insurance representatives from Alabama who attended the conference also spent time lobbying to the seven representatives and two senators of Alabama.

“The time spent lobbying was for private sector concerns and solutions to the health care financing challenge,” Hamby said.

“I learned so much more in those four days than I ever thought possible,” Hamby said. “I hope this will help me further my career in health insurance. It also gave me a look into the lobbying business that I previously knew little about.”

The National Association of Health Underwriters represents more than 20,000 licensed health insurance agents, brokers, consultants and benefit professionals through more than 200 chapters across America.

The University of Alabama, a student-centered research university, is in the midst of a planned, steady enrollment growth with a goal of reaching 28,000 students by 2010. This growth, which is positively impacting the campus and the state's economy, is in keeping with UA's vision to be the university of choice for the best and brightest students. UA, the state's flagship university, is an academic community united in its commitment to enhancing the quality of life for all Alabamians.

UA's Rabel Receives Alabama Finance Association Outstanding Faculty Award

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Dr. William Rabel, professor of insurance and financial services at The University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Commerce, has been named recipient of the Outstanding Faculty Award by the Alabama Finance Association.

The Alabama Finance Association Outstanding Faculty Award was created to recognize professors who have significantly impacted students in a meaningful way. Professors can be recognized through their service to the school, excellent teaching style, mentorship of students, or the positive motivation the professor provides.

Nominations are accepted through students, teaching assistants and other professors. The winner of the award is selected by the officers of the Alabama Finance Association and receives a plaque celebrating his or her excellence as a faculty member.

Rabel, a Fellow of the Life Management Institute and a Certified Life Underwriter, is the John and Mary Louise Loftis Bickley Endowed Teaching Professor of Insurance and Financial Services.

Prior to joining the faculty in Aug. 2006, he was senior vice president, Education and Training, at Life Office Management Association where he lead a strategic business unit that provided professional education for those involved in the management and operations of financial services companies throughout the world.

Under Rebel’s leadership, the association’s Life Management Institute program became the world's largest university-level professional education program in financial services. It is used in some 60 countries and is offered in seven languages

Prior to joining the Life Office Management Association, Rabel served as dean of The American College's Huebner School of CLU Studies. He also has served on the faculty of Syracuse University’s College of Business and was an Economic Affairs Officer for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in Geneva, Switzerland.

He serves on the board of trustees, S. S. Huebner Foundation for Insurance Education, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He also has been appointed as a Fellow Professor at Peking and Renmin (Peoples) Universities, both of Beijing, China and is a member of the Council of Senior Advisors, China Center for Insurance and Social Security Research.

An active member of several professional organizations where he has played a leadership role, he has twice been elected as a director of the American Risk and Insurance Association, where he received the President’s Award; he is serving a second term on the Board of Governors, Asia-Pacific Risk and Insurance Association, where he served for three years as chairman or co-chairman of the nominating committee and is Secretary-elect.

He has served as chairman or a member of the strategic planning committee of several organizations, including the American Society of CLU, the American Risk and Insurance Association, the Association Internationale de Droit des Assurances, and the International Insurance Society.

Rabel holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Texas A&M, where he was a Munnerlyn Scholar, and earned master’s and doctorate degrees from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a Huebner Fellow.

The University of Alabama, a student-centered research university, is in the midst of planned, steady enrollment growth with a goal of reaching 28,000 students by 2010. This growth, which is positively impacting the campus and the state's economy, is in keeping with UA's vision to be the university of choice for the best and brightest students. UA, the state's flagship university, is an academic community united in its commitment to enhancing the quality of life for all Alabamians.