Insurance leaders from three different countries have been voted into the International Insurance Society's (IIS) Hall of Fame.

This year's award recipients are Patrick Ryan, founder and executive chairman of Chicago-based Aon Corp.; Dominic D'Alessadro, of Canada, president and chief executive officer of Manulife Financial; and actuary G.S. Diwan, of India.

IIS, a nonprofit association of insurance executives representing 90 nations, said that to qualify for induction in the Hall of Fame, an individual must “have demonstrated outstanding leadership and have made a significant and lasting contribution to the insurance industry, and thereby also to society as a whole.” Members of the Hall of Fame are selected by the IIS members in a secret ballot.

Mr. Ryan started Aon Corp. as a small insurance agency in 1964. Today, his firm has more than 500 offices in over 120 countries and generates revenues of over $7 billion.

IIS said that “Mr. Ryan developed one of the most sophisticated management structures in brokerage: networks of local resources delivering services around the world, with expertise to do business in specific locations, not just from headquarters.”

Mr. D'Alessandro was appointed president and CEO of Manulife in 1994, and helped grow the company from a mutual insurance provider valued at approximately $2 billion to an international, diversified financial services company with a market capitalization of more than $60 billion.

He also managed the company's 2004 merger with John Hancock Financial Services, which IIS said was “the largest cross-border transaction in Canadian history.”

Mr. Diwan (1901-1987), taught mathematics and actuarial science in Elphinstone College and Sydenham College.

According to IIS, “While his most significant contribution was as India's foremost teacher of actuarial science, he also achieved considerable distinction as a consultant in other areas, centered on life office valuations, valuations of life interests, gratuity valuations and government service.” He also worked for the Government of Bombay and as a consultant in non-life insurance after his retirement.

IIS said there are currently 119 laureates in the Insurance Hall of Fame from more than 20 countries. IIS added that the Hall of Fame was instituted in 1957 by the Griffith Foundation for Insurance Education, Columbus, Ohio, and later moved to The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

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IIS Announces Hall of Fame Award Recipients

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