Hall of fame inductees

RIMS (Risk and Insurance Management Society, Inc.) and Chartis today announced the 2012 inductees to the Risk Management Hall of Fame (RMHF), a distinctive honor created in 2011 to maintain the history and tradition of the field of risk management. The RMHF serves as a means to recognize and honor risk practitioners who have made significant contributions to advancing the discipline. The announcement was made during the Awards Luncheon at RIMS 2012 Annual Conference & Exhibition in Philadelphia.

New members to the RMHF are announced each year at the RIMS Annual Conference & Exhibition. The RMHF Selection Committee considers the following criteria for membership in the RMHF: considerable contributions to the field; significant achievements, innovation and trend setting; demonstrated leadership, character and service; and the highest caliber of ethical and professional conduct.

“With nearly 150 combined years in the risk management profession, this year’s group of inductees have achieved professional excellence while demonstrating a genuine commitment to advancing the discipline,” said RIMS Executive Director Mary Roth. “It is with great honor that we recognize the careers of these four individuals and welcome them into this elite group.”

Peter Eastwood, President and Chief Executive Officer of Chartis for the Americas, said,"Chartis and RIMS are pleased to continue our support of the risk management community by honoring the four outstanding professionals who are being inducted into the 2012 Risk Management Hall of Fame. This year's inductees have not only served their companies, but have helped shape the risk management discipline, and we are proud to congratulate them on this achievement."

The 2012 inductees to the RMHF are (full bios can be found at www.RiskHallofFame.org):

Marc Darby – Mr. Darby’s career at Bombardier spanned almost 30 years where he retired in 1998 as Director of Risk Management and Insurance. He was responsible for increasing the profile of the risk manager and was integral in forming a multi-discipline risk management team to meet the company’s challenges that included its evolution from a manufacturer of recreational vehicles to a world-leader in the aerospace and rail transit industry. The former President of Quebec Risk and Insurance Management Association (1975 – 1976), the president of RIMS (1983 – 1984), named to the Business Insurance Risk Management Honor Roll (1992) and was the winner of the RIMS Harry and Dorothy Goodell Award in 1997. Mr. Darby is still an active member of RIMS and QRIMA.

David R. Haight – Mr. Haight’s career in risk management spanned more than 35 years and included positions at Gould Inc. as a Manager of Risk Management, Ceco Corporation as the Director of Risk Management and, most recently, as the Director of Risk Management for CF Industries, Inc. where he retired in 1998. He was an active RIMS member from 1964 - 1998 and now holds an Honorary Membership with the Society. He was a member of RIMS Minnesota Chapter, RIMS Chicago Chapter and RIMS Northeastern Illinois – which he helped found in 1978. In both the Minnesota and Northeastern Illinois Chapters he held all the chapter officer positions including president.

Edith F. Lichota (1929 – 1994) – Ms. Lichota began her risk management career in the mid-1960’s with a small company in western Ohio, Work Wear, tackling product liability litigation issues. In the 1970’s, as assistant treasurer of Carborundum Corp. she fought against the New York State Insurance Department Regulations that would have limited corporations’ risk financing options. In the early 1980’s, Ms. Lichota became Vice President of Government Affairs with INA, during which time she supported development of the then new captive law in Vermont. She was also Senior Vice President of Risk Management at Irving Trust Company, then the country’s 20th largest bank, from 1983 – 1988.

Some of her risk management and insurance achievements included her being named “Woman of the Year” by the Association of Professional Insurance Women (APIW) (1986) ; the first woman to be named “Risk Manager of the Year” by Business Insurance (1987); as well as receiving RIMS Richard W. Bland Memorial Award and the RIMS Harry and Dorothy Goodell Award.

Ronald E. Strine – Mr. Strine retired from Aetna Life & Casualty in 1992 after 26 years of service -- 14 years as senior casualty underwriter for Fortune 500 companies and 12 years as the Director of Corporate Risk Management. Promoted to the position of Manager, Insurance, Safety & Security in 1979 Ron immediately changed the department’s name to Corporate Risk Management (CRM) and was subsequently promoted to Director, a responsibility that included overseeing insurance, safety and security for over 45,000 employees and 100 affiliated companies around the world.

In 1988 Ron was appointed by then Secretary of State George Shultz to the newly created Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) where he was the only Risk Manager among the council of senior security directors. After earning his CPCU designation in 1970, Ron began a 25-year relationship with The Insurance Institute of America (now The Institutes) as a grader for CPCU and IIA examinations and taught RM 54 for many years at the University of Connecticut and later developed the University of Hartford Graduate School curriculum for their course in Risk Management. He retired in 2005, having served 44 years in the indu