The Association of Professional Insurance Women has selected Therese M. Vaughan as this year’s recipient of the APIW Insurance Woman of the Year Award.

A cocktail reception and award ceremony honoring Vaughan will be held on Tuesday, June 10, 2014, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the New York Marriott Marquis.

Vaughan began her career as a professor of risk management and insurance. In 1994 she was appointed by the governor of Iowa to be the state’s insurance commissioner—a position she held for more than 10 years, having been appointed by governors of both major parties.

In 2005, Vaughan became the Robb B. Kelley Distinguished Professor of Insurance and Actuarial Science at Drake University. She taught courses on the management of financial institutions and financial regulation, served as a director on corporate boards, authored articles, and revised a textbook.

From February 2009 to November 2012, Vaughan served as CEO of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). She represented the NAIC as a member of the executive committee of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors and as a member of the steering committee for the U.S./E.U. Insurance Dialogue Project. In 2012, she chaired the Joint Forum, a Basel, Switzerland-based group of banking, insurance and securities supervisors that studies and makes recommendations on cross-sectoral issues.

Today, Vaughan serves as a director of IFG Cos., Validus Holdings, Verisk Analytics and Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

Vaughan earned a Ph.D. in risk and insurance at the University of Pennsylvania and a B.B.A. in insurance and economics at the University of Iowa. She is a CPCU, an Associate of the Society of Actuaries, an Associate of the Casualty Actuarial Society and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries.

Vaughan is the co-author of two college textbooks on insurance: Essentials of Insurance and Fundamentals of Risk and Insurance. She is a past editor of the Journal of Insurance Regulation, and a past president of the American Risk and Insurance Association.

APIW President Isabel Silvestri said: “APIW is proud to bestow this honor on Dr. Therese M. Vaughan. She serves as an outstanding role model. Her mentoring, gracious management and demonstrated support for insurance professionals is well known.

“Her leadership and accomplishments, as well as her commitment to supporting and advancing women, are exceptional examples of all of the qualities that APIW looks for in the recipient of this highly prestigious honor. She has portrayed exemplary professionalism in all her activities and is highly respected in every organization she has worked with and within our industry generally.”

Source: APIW