ShareThisLeadership Series
The Class of 2005: New Commissioners Heavy on Experience
By David Reddick
State Affairs Manager – Southeast
This issue’s leadership focus spotlights 11 new state insurance commissioners, who bring with them years of leadership skills to their positions. These commissioners have an opportunity not only to lead their states but also the industry as they focus on doing the right thing for insurance companies and consumers alike.
Ifthere’s one characteristic common among the 11 individuals who have been either appointed or elected as their state’s top insurance regulator since last November, it’s their strong professional backgrounds.
Each individual brings a wealth of experience to their positions, either in the insurance, financial services or investment banking fields, or as top administrators in other public sector jobs.
“Their backgrounds should serve these regulators well as they begin to tackle the myriad of regulatory issues facing them,” says Roger H. Schmelzer, NAMIC’s senior vice president of State and Regulatory Affairs.
Schmelzer says this 2005 class of insurance regulators will need to continue to support the preservation of state insurance regulation by enacting legislation that makes state insurance departments more efficient and effective.
“One of the first issues that these new regulators must deal with is the broker compensation issue, and with two of the new appointees being former insurance agents, perhaps they can bring some rational thinking to that issue.”
Schmelzer added that NAMIC’s state affairs managers are planning to meet with the new regulators over the next few months to explain the organization’s unique state advocacy program and assistance to the new regulators.
In Texas, Gov. Rick Parry has not yet announced, as this publication went to press, who will succeed Insurance Commissioner Jose Montemayor, who announced in early January that he would not seek re-appointment when his term ended on Feb. 1.
The following is a brief biographical sketch of each new commissioner listed alphabetically by state.
Arkansas
On Dec. 7, Republican Gov. Mike Huckabee appointed Julie Benafield Bowman as the state’s new Insurance Commissioner, replacing Mike Pickens, who served in that position for eight years. Pickens, who also served as NAIC President in 2001, is returning to private law practice in Little Rock.
Being appointed insurance commissioner represents a second tour of duty at the Insurance Department for Bowman, 41, who served as the attorney supervisor for the department’s workers’ compensation fraud investigation unit from 1993 to 1996.
Bowman received her undergraduate degree from Ouachita Baptist University and her law degree from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Law. In 2001, she was listed by Arkansas Business as one of the state’s most outstanding leaders younger than 40.
Delaware
Democrat Matt Denn became his state’s newest elected insurance commissioner on Nov. 2 when he defeated former Republican state legislator, David Ennis. Denn replaced Republican Donna Lee Williams, who chose not to seek re-election after serving three four-year terms.
Prior to being elected commissioner, Denn served two years as legal counsel to Gov. Ruth Ann Minner. He also served as chair of the state’s Child Protection Accountability Commission, a commission set up in the aftermath of the deaths of several children in state care.
During his campaign, Denn stressed a largely regulatory approach to insurance problems, including a proposal to create a statewide insurance buying pool so individuals and small business owners could get better insurance rates.
Denn has an undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley and from Yale Law School.
Idaho
Republican Gov. Dirk Kempthorne named Gary L. Smith the state’s new insurance director, replacing Mary Hartung, who retired Nov. 30 after spending six and a half years as the state’s top insurance regulator. Smith will need Senate confirmation.
For the past 12 years, Smith has advised Kempthorne on insurance policy issues during his terms as Governor and a U.S. Senator. Smith also has served as the Governor’s Chief of Staff for three and a half years and six years as Deputy Legislative Director during Kempthorne’s Senate tenure.
Indiana
Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels appointed former Indianapolis area state representative Jim Atterholt as the next commissioner of the Indiana Department of Insurance.
“Jim has impressed us with his capacity to reform his agency and to create the platform for more insurance jobs in Indiana,” Daniels said. “He’s already impressed us with his leadership and management of the department over the past month, and we’re looking for him to continue to push for change.”
Atterholt was first named Chief Deputy Commissioner after last fall’s election. He was part of the Governor’s transition team. Prior to assuming that role, Atterholt served two years as director of state government affairs for AT&T Indiana.
He was a state representative from 1998 to 2002
Iowa
Democratic Gov. Tom Vilsack appointed Susan E. Voss as the state’s newest insurance commissioner. Voss, who previously served as the department’s First Deputy, replaced Terri Vaughan, who served as commissioner since 1994. She joined the faculty of the College of Business Administration at Drake University.
Before becoming First Deputy, Voss served as a projects director for the commissioner. In her 20 years of public service, Voss also has been a policy analyst for the Iowa Department of Revenue and Finance, staff attorney for the Iowa State Legislative Service Bureau, legal counsel for the Iowa State Citizens’ Aide Ombudsman, and assistant attorney general for the Iowa Department of Transportation.
Missouri
Newly elected Republican Gov. Matt Blunt nominated Dale Finke of West St. Louis County as the state’s next insurance director. He replaced Scott Lakin.
Like his predecessor, Finke, 65, comes from the insurance agency side of the business, most recently serving as chief executive officer of ISU Corporate Insurance Management, Inc., a family-operated insurance agency and brokerage in Creve Coeur.
In press reports of his nomination, Finke has said that he shares the new governor’s goal of controlling the cost of insurance premiums and bringing more efficiency to the insurance department.
New Jersey
Acting Gov. Richard J. Codey announced the appointment of Donald Bryan as Acting Commissioner of the Department of Banking and Insurance.
Bryan, a Burlington resident, has been an employee of the department since 1982 and director of the Division of Insurance since 1999. This will not be the first time Bryan has served as the department’s acting commissioner – he served in that role from October 2001 to February 2002.
Codey considers Bryan’s working knowledge of the Department’s many functions to be an important asset.
Prior to his appointment at the department’s Division of Insurance, Bryan served as assistant commissioner of legislative and regulatory affairs. He worked as a regulatory officer, as manager of the insurance licensing functions and with the New Jersey Real Estate Commission.
New York
Republican Gov. George Pataki has nominated former Assemblyman Howard D. Mills, III to succeed Greg Serio as the state’s next Insurance Superintendent. Mills still faces Senate confirmation.
Mills, who was first elected an Assemblyman in 1998, was the unsuccessful Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in a race with Democrat Chuck Schumer. Outside of politics, Mills was the business development and public relations officer for Myles Financial Services Group in Florida, New York.
Oklahoma
Democratic Gov. Brad Henry named Kim Holland, a Tulsa insurance executive, to fill out the remaining term of Insurance Commissioner Carroll Fisher, who resigned last September amid criminal charges and legislative impeachment proceedings.
Henry said Holland “will restore integrity and public confidence to the insurance commissioner’s post…she brings unquestioned honor and a wealth of private and public sector experience to the job.”
Holland has spent more than 25 years in the insurance industry, the last two decades with the Team Insurance Group (formerly the Quarles Group) where she served as executive vice president.
South Carolina
Republican Gov. Mark Sanford named Eleanor Kitzman of Columbia as the new Director of the Department of Insurance.
Kitman is the founder and former president of Driver’s Choice Insurance, an auto insurance business established in 1999. Last year, Kitzman served as the governor’s appointee to the Commission of Women and was also honored in 2004 as Minority Business Advocate by the Columbia Chamber of Commerce. Kitzman’s appointment is subject to Senate confirmation.
Utah
D. Kent Michie, the new Utah insurance commissioner appointed by newly elected Republican Gov. Jon Huntsman, Jr., has spent more than 35 years in the investment banking industry. Michie, who replaced Merwin Stewart, is subject to confirmation by the state Senate.
Michie’s most recent banking position was as vice president of Zions Bank Public Finance, a position he held for 16 years. Since 1984, Michie has been the state’s financial advisor. He provided the creative concept for development of the Utah School Bond Guaranty Program, which provides the state’s AAA bond guaranty to the bonds of the state’s 40 school districts.
Posted: Friday, April 01, 2005 12:00:00 AM. Modified: Wednesday, September 07, 2005 2:44:45 PM.
(317) 875-5250 - Indianapolis | (202) 628-1558 - Washington, D.C.
Contact NAMIC | Press | Advertise | Sponsor
= access available only to registered users from NAMIC-member companies