NAPSLO Educational Foundation Announces New Scholarships

The Derek Hughes/NAPSLO Educational Foundation said two new insurance education scholarships were established by its members after changes were made allowing individuals or groups to establish scholarships.

Kurt Bingeman, a member of the board of directors of the Derek Hughes/NAPSLO Educational Foundation, recently donated $50,000 to the foundation to establish a scholarship honoring Russell Bond, the founder of Russell Bond & Co. Inc. of Buffalo, N.Y. Mr. Bingeman is the chief executive officer of the firm, NAPSLO said.

The Kansas City, Mo.-based Foundation also said senior managers of Hull & Company Inc., a wholesale broker and subsidiary of Daytona Beach, Fla.-based insurance broker Brown & Brown Inc., donated $100,000 to establish a scholarship in the name of Richard Hull, founder and CEO of Hull & Company.

The executives involved in setting up the scholarship were President Ed Calabrese; Executive Vice President Mike Riordan; Senior Vice Presidents Bill Simons, Bob McGrew and Bruce Bowers; and Vice President Chris Hull.

The Foundation was established in 1991 by the board of directors of the National Association of Professional Surplus Lines Offices, a national trade organization representing the surplus lines insurance industry and the wholesale distribution system.

The new scholarship will provide for the annual financial needs of students enrolled in an insurance or risk management degree program. It will be awarded to one student for the 2007-2008 school year and each year thereafter for as long as funds from the donation remain. Scholarship recipients will be selected based upon overall academic performance as well as financial need.

The scholarship was made possible last year after the foundation approved a proposal by Mr. Bingeman to allow individuals, firms or groups to establish new named scholarships.

The scholarship awards of $4,000 will be available for as long as funding lasts. A minimum of $25,000 is required to establish the scholarship recognizing an individual. Any partial moneys left will either be combined with other foundation assets for a final year or go into the general scholarship fund, NAPSLO explained.

The Hull scholarship is considered self-sustaining.

"I am hopeful that the new program will allow additional scholarships to be established and for the foundation to be able to help additional students studying insurance," Mr. Bingeman said.

"Education is something that Dick [Hull] strongly believes in and he believes it's critical to the growth of our business," said Mr. McGrew. "Teaming with the foundation and NAPSLO, which Dick helped to establish in the early 1970s, to train future leaders in our business is a perfect way to thank him for all he has done for us."

Scholarship applications and qualifications are available by contacting the foundation at 816-741-3910 or from the foundation section at www.napslo.org. The application deadline is June 1.