Former risk management leader Dan Kugler dies

Daniel H. Kugler, former risk manager of Snap-on Corp. and longtime risk management educator, died unexpectedly on May 12. He was 68.

Mr. Kugler worked in insurance claims after graduating college in 1976 and joined Snap-on as a risk analyst in 1979. He held various risk and benefits management positions at the Kenosha, Wisconsin-based equipment manufacturer and distributor and was named Risk Manager of the Year by Business Insurance in 2002.

In 2012, he was presented with the Innovation and Leadership Award at the Katie School of Insurance and Financial Services of Illinois State University's Midwestern Insurance Innovation and Leadership Awards & Hall of Fame.

He retired as assistant treasurer of Snap-on in 2014.

He went on to serve as director of the Center for Insurance and Risk Management at the College of Business at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and in 2016 was named vice president-enterprise risk management at the REV Group, a specialty vehicle manufacturer in Milwaukee. He set up his own risk management consultancy in 2020.

Throughout much of his career, Mr. Kugler – who earned an MBA and held numerous risk management-related designations – was involved in risk management education and promoted the risk management profession through his association with the Risk & Insurance Management Society Inc., where he had served on the board.

He taught various risk management courses for the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Concordia University of Wisconsin and Butler University. In addition, he was a longtime participant in a Spencer Educational Foundation program that brought working risk managers to college campuses.

The foundation, where Mr. Kugler was a board member for 12 years, is developing a grant for its Risk Manager on Campus program in Mr. Kugler’s name. A fund-raising link will shortly be available at www.spencered.org.

Mr. Kugler is survived by his wife, Margie, four children and three grandchildren.