The DC Chapter of the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) Society recently celebrated a milestone 55th anniversary with an awards banquet, which recognized the talents of three young women from Howard University with the annual Terry Mullen Memorial Scholarship. Khadine Adams, Ayanna Charles and Avionne Richardson—all actuarial science majors—received recognition at the gala event on Nov. 9 at the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md. The society also honored its New Designee Class of 2006.
The Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking’s Associate Commissioner for Compliance and Risk Management Margaret Schruender, who is also the chapter’s president, served as mistress of ceremonies.
“It is my pleasure to share in these outstanding achievements,” Schruender said. “And it is with pride that we come together each year to renew our commitment to ‘CPCU Character and Confidence’.”
Chapter members live and work in the District, Maryland and Virginia, and Schruender thought it fitting that executive-level greetings should come from all three jurisdictions. In the banquet’s souvenir booklet were greetings from well-wishers including a letter from the District’s Mayor Anthony Williams and a proclamation from Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson, which was read by his wife, Leslie Johnson.
The mistress of ceremonies paid tribute to past chapter presidents who worked hard, and whose contributions helped to build the organization and keep it growing over the past 55 years. Special guests in the audience included Harry Fegley who served as president of the chapter in 1978, former Department of Insurance and Securities Regulation commissioner Robert Willis, and former DISB commissioner Lawrence Mirel.
The scholarship award winners were accompanied by special guests Harold Gray, director of Professional Development and Center for Insurance Education at Howard’s School of Business and Joan Black, the assistant director. The audience received a treat from the keynote speaker, Marvin Kelly, vice president of the national CPCU Society and executive director of the Texas Property and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Association, who delivered an inspiring speech on diversity in insurance.
The CPCU Society is a community of credentialed property and casualty insurance professionals who promote excellence through ethical behavior and continuing education. Its 26,000 members hold the CPCU designation, which requires passing rigorous undergraduate- and graduate-level examinations, meeting experience requirements, and agreeing to be bound by a strict code of professional ethics. The District chapter has more than 200 members. There are more than 117 CPCU Society Chapters around the world, including the United States, Japan, Korea, Bermuda and Puerto Rico. Founded in 1944, the CPCU Society’s mission is to “meet the career development needs of a diverse membership of professionals who have earned the CPCU designation, so that they may serve others in a competent and ethical manner.”