Help

BI’s Article search uses Boolean search capabilities. If you are not familiar with these principles, here are some quick tips.

To search specifically for more than one word, put the search term in quotation marks. For example, “workers compensation”. This will limit your search to that combination of words.

To search for a combination of terms, use quotations and the & symbol. For example, “hurricane” & “loss”.

Login Register Subscribe

Spencer Educational Foundation raises more than $1M for scholarships

Reprints

NEW YORK — The Spencer Education Foundation Inc. raised more than $1 million at the organization’s annual gala Thursday at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York.

Proceeds from Thursday’s event will fund scholarships for students and professionals studying risk management and insurance, the charitable affiliate of the Risk and Insurance Management Society Inc. said in a statement.

The event, which was the largest to date, drawing 750 attendees as the Spencer Foundation celebrates its 35th anniversary, honored Warren J. Mula, CEO of Aon Broking for Aon Risk Solutions, and John Q. Doyle, CEO of global commercial insurance for American International Group Inc., for their contributions to risk management and insurance education.

“This is an inspiration for me,” said Mr. Mula as he accepted his award and spoke of his grandfather, who had worked at the famed hotel two generations earlier. Upbeat about the future of the insurance industry, “It is energizing and promising to see the IQ of our industry rise. When we look around the room, we can see our future is bright.”

“One of the things I enjoy about our business is that it is still about people,” said Mr. Doyle in his acceptance remarks. “This is a great cause and a great night to celebrate the future.”

One of the highlights of the dinner was an interactive text-do-donate app, with donation amounts relayed via two giant displays at the front of the hall. Donations kicked off with a $5,000 pledge and included another for $2,500.

“It’s easy for me to speak so enthusiastically about the Spencer Foundation,” said Bailey Noone, 2014 Spencer Scholar and a senior at St. John’s University in New York, who attended the event. “People are always willing to help,” she added of the organization.

The Spencer Foundation was founded in 1979 to honor the late Robert S. Spencer, a former RIMS president. Since 1979, the foundation has awarded more than $5.3 million in scholarships to undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate students, as well as risk managers, and has provided more than $2.2 million in grants.

Read Next