The Kansas City, Mo.-based National Association of ProfessionalSurplus Lines Offices, Ltd. announced the launch today of theNAPSLO Executive Leadership School, which will provide continuingeducation for experienced surplus lines insuranceprofessionals.

The school's inaugural session is scheduled for February 8-11,2009, in Charlottesville, Va., where senior-level members can learnleadership skills from business professors at the University ofVirginia's Darden School of Business.

NAPSLO said the Executive Leadership School is designed formembers of both NAPSLO and the American Association of ManagingGeneral Agents with 15 years or more of industry experience and whoare at the top or close to the top of their respectiveorganizations.

The curriculum, said NAPSLO, is planned to broaden perspectiveson important social, political and economic issues influencing theinsurance industry, and to enhance leadership skills soparticipants can more effectively manage change at the personal,team and organizational levels.

Gilbert Hine, co-chair of the NAPSLO Education Committee, saidthe goal of the school “is to create highly professional leadershipfor the future of our industry–leaders who develop the enterpriseperspective required to make winning choices about running theirbusinesses in today's complex environment.”

“The Executive Leadership School goes beyond the marketknowledge and insurance expertise that the specialty lines industryis known for,” said Mr. Hine, who is also president of McClelland& Hine in San Antonio, Texas.

NAPSLO said the faculty was selected from the Darden Schoolfaculty to provide a framework for future success in strategicallymanaging, developing and leading organizations.

Instructors will be:

o Alan Beckenstein, professor of business administration at theDarden School, who holds a doctoral degree in economics from theUniversity of Michigan and has taught at the Darden School for 34years in the areas of political economy, global competition, publicpolicy, environmental management and quantitative analysis.

o Alec Horniman, professor of business administration and seniorfellow, Olsson Center for Applied Ethics. Mr. Horniman is aconsultant to industry in the area of organizational behavior.

o Sankaran Venkataraman, MasterCard professor of businessadministration. He is a member of the Strategy, Entrepreneurshipand Ethics area at Darden and teaches MBA and executive levelcourses in strategy, entrepreneurship and ethics.

NAPSLO is a national trade association representing thewholesale specialty lines insurance industry that has more than1,600 member offices in the United States

For information on the school, go tohttp://www.napslo.org/content/Meetings/ExecutiveLeadershipSchool/executive.htm.