John S. Bickley, an insurance industry leader and business scholar who founded the International Insurance Society, died Sunday at Hospice of West Alabama in Tuscaloosa. He was 90.
Mr. Bickley, who worked to forge links between academia and the insurance industry, founded the IIS in 1965. In 1957, while at Ohio State University, he founded the Insurance Hall of Fame.
He served as IIS president and chief executive officer from the group's inception until his retirement in 1988.
The organization's mission is to encourage insurance executives and insurance academics to "productively share knowledge about the insurance industry on a worldwide basis."
In a statement, Patrick W. Kenny, the current IIS president and CEO, said that in founding IIS, Mr. Bickley's "idea was ahead of its time, anticipating the importance of globalization of the industry."
Mr. Kenny said Mr. Bickley's contributions to the field of insurance were substantial. "He grandfathered the concept of risk management; established the Journal of Risk and Insurance, and authored a scholarly study, 'Trends and Problems in Insurance Marketing,' which became an industry best seller."
Mr. Bickley was a past president of the American Risk and Insurance Association, as well as one of the original 15 members of the group's Risk Theory Seminar. He was also the first chairman of the Committee on Property and Liability Insurance Terminology, and a member of the Insurance Hall of Fame he helped create.
Mr. Bickley, according to Mr. Kenny, was known for his teaching excellence in a career spanning 50 years. His academic activity included positions at the University of Alabama (which has endowed a John S. Bickley Chair in Insurance), University of Wisconsin, University of Washington, Ohio State University and Stanford University, among others.
He was director of education for State Auto Insurance Group for 28 years, and served on the boards of the IIS as well as for Columbus Life Insurance Company, the Griffith Foundation for Insurance Education and other organizations.
He held a bachelors degree, a masters in business administration, and a doctorate from the University of Wisconsin, and had studied at Columbia University, Harvard University and the University of Chicago.
He was listed in "Who's Who in Insurance," held the Citation of the Secretary of the Treasury for service on behalf of the War Finance Program, and had Honorary Membership in the Corporation of Insurance Agents in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Bickley was married to Mary Louise Loftis and was widowed in 2004. He is survived by his daughter, Mary C. Naismith of Smyrna, Ga.; his brother, George H. Bickley of Fredericksburg, Va.; and his sister Jean Bickley Houghton of Renton, Wash.
"Together with Mr. Bickley's family and his many, many friends across the world, we mourn his passing and recognize his great contributions to our industry," said Mr. Kenny.
Services will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at First Presbyterian Church in Tuscaloosa. Burial will follow in Tuscaloosa Memorial Park. Visitation will be tomorrow night from 5-to-7 p.m. at Tuscaloosa Memorial Chapel Funeral Home
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial gifts be sent to the Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra, P.O. Box 20001, Tuscaloosa, Ala., 35202, or via www.tsoonline.org.
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