Peter L. Miller, CPCU
President and CEO
American Institute for CPCU/Insurance Institute of America
Each year, the American Institute for CPCU and Insurance Institute of America (the Institutes) select new CPCU designees to share their CPCU experience at the conferment ceremony. New designees are encouraged to submit the story of their CPCU journey to a panel of Institute staff members who review the submissions and select the spokespeople. Students are asked to share what inspired them to begin the program, what motivated them to continue, and who helped them along the way. Stories may be compelling, humorous, touching, or inspirational.
Tony Hughes, CPCU, AIC, AU, is a product underwriter at Great American Insurance Company in Cincinnati, Ohio. He shared his journey, from emigrating from Scotland to the United States about six years ago to earning the CPCU designation. In Scotland, Hughes had worked as a traffic engineer for 12 years. He decided he needed a change, moved to the U.S., and was offered a position with Great American Insurance. "Obtaining the CPCU designation makes me feel more at home in this country, and it provides me with a feeling of inclusion in a place so different from where I've spent most of my life," Hughes said. "I belong here. This is where I'm meant to be, doing what I'm meant to do."
Misty Longfellow-Kriskovich, CPCU, CIC, works for Hobson Insurance in Hobson, Montana. She expressed her gratitude to her father, Dale Longfellow, for inspiring her to pursue a career in the insurance industry. With the support of her parents, husband, sister, and three daughters, she completed five courses in less than one year. "Now it's my turn to prove to my beautiful daughters that you need to think all the time, that there isn't anything you can't do, and that you never need to be dependent on anyone once you learn those two things," she said. "Above all else, you can always count on the ones you love to be there for you."
While the Institutes usually select two spokespeople each year, this year we chose a third spokesperson, who shared a special story. At the age of 84, Walker Taylor III, CPCU, is the oldest new CPCU designee on record. He is area chairman at Walker Taylor Agency, a division of Arthur J. Gallagher and Company in Wilmington, North Carolina. He was unable to attend the conferment ceremony, but he and his staff, with the assistance of the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, created a video addressing Taylor's fellow CPCUs. He shared his 25-year journey to earning the CPCU designation. Taylor was not only a student in the program, but also he was assigned to lead a class. He described it as a "somewhat terrifying experience" to be a student and the teacher, as it meant he had to do his work to avoid embarrassment in front of his fellow classmates. "By God's grace and the inspiration of my classmates, I was able to pass the courses," he said. "I am grateful and honored to have earned the CPCU designation and am appreciative of the CPCU Society and the colleagues in our firm who encouraged me."
