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Women to Watch: Janice Abraham

Posted On: Oct. 8, 2006 12:00 AM CST

Janice Abraham

President and Chief Executive Officer

United Educators Insurance

Chevy Chase, Md.

Age: 49

Before assuming the top spot at United Educators Insurance, Janice Abraham was chief financial officer, treasurer and secretary of the board of trustees of Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash., a UEI member company. In addition to helping more than 1,200 educational institutions manage risk, she is credited with strengthening United Educators' capital and developing reinsurance options for the risk retention group. Ms. Abraham, who also is member of the board of governors of the Property Casualty Insurers Assn. of America, in 2004 was named Insurance Woman of the Year by the Assn. of Professional Insurance Women Inc.

What would you change: "That (industry participants) would shift our focus from short-term to long-term. Risk financing is about long-range analysis and thinking, and we're too short-term driven. That short-term focus affects everything from developing talent, to investing in services and understanding financial decisions."