The Nevada Independent Insurance Agents said a scholarship has been established in the name of Alice Molasky-Arman, the state's retiring insurance commissioner.

Gov. Jim Gibbons announced in April that Ms. Molasky-Arman would be retiring Sept. 7. A spokesman for Mr. Gibbons said today that the search for her successor is still in progress and an acting appointment may be made. The eventual selection will be made by Department of Business and Industries Director Dianne Cornwall.

The scholarship established under the Insurance Agents & Brokers of Nevada Scholarship fund will be awarded to students at University of Nevada, Reno and University of Nevada, Las Vegas for Business and Finance studies.

The scholarship is to begin in January 2009 and awards $2,500 each semester at each campus. The agents group said a second scholarship has also been established in her name to benefit University of Nevada, Reno and University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

The organization said the fund has been created in recognition of Ms. Molasky-Arman's “tremendous service to the state.” The announcement said since her appointment in 1995 Ms. Molasky-Arman's numerous accomplishments included the strengthening of the division's enforcement section, cracking down on insurance fraud and illegal activities, increasing the financial oversight of insurers, and imposing greater solvency requirements for HMO's.

The group also noted her public information campaigns on a variety of topics including establishment of a public service hotline and Web site for verifying the status of insurance carriers authorized to write business in Nevada.

Commissioner Molasky-Arman was also involved in pushing legislation which established a reinsurance program for health insurers and with establishing Nevada's Essential Insurance Association for Medical Malpractice.