Chuck Cooper is this year's recipient of LOMA’s highest education honor–the FLMI Insurance Education Award.

The prestigious FLMI Insurance Education award, first granted more than 20 years ago, is presented to an individual who has made outstanding contributions to LOMA's FLMI Program and to insurance industry education as a whole. Charles B. Cooper, J.D., FLMI, CLU, President & CEO of American-Amicable Holding, Inc. was presented with this award at LOMA’s Annual Conference and FLMI Conferment in Orlando, Florida on September 26.

In announcing Coopers’s election, King Mawhinney, FLMI, CLU, ACS, ChFC, chairman of LOMA’s Education Council and vice president, life/annuity sales, USAA Life, stated, "We’re very pleased to award this honor to Chuck for his contributions to education and the industry."

Cooper’s service to LOMA began in 1978 as Chairman of the newly-formed Education Administrative Committee. Under his guidance, this committee reviewed and revised the policies and procedures governing the administration of the FLMI program to make them more effective and "user friendly." This endeavor helped LOMA become widely known as one of the industry’s most flexible and objective educational organizations.

Cooper went on to serve as a member of the Exam Committee, as chairman of the FLMI Society Committee, and as a member of LOMA’s Education Council. He later returned as chairman of the Education Council and as a member of the Board of Directors of LOMA. He has devoted more time to the Education Council than any other president or CEO in the industry.

Believing that insurance education should continue after the FLMI designation, Cooper advocated a curriculum that would later become the Master Fellow program. Additionally, Cooper helped found the FLMI Society of Waco. His companies continue to be major supporters of the Society in the region.

A strong proponent of examinations by computer, Cooper helped lay the groundwork for the I*STAR system which offers convenient and flexible exam administration by computer. As Chairman of LOMA’s Education Council in the early 1990s, he was also an integral part of the revision of the FLMI Program when many important decisions were made concerning the overall structure of the program and course content.

"Chuck has always been an excellent leader with strong opinions and an eagerness to try new things," said William H. Rabel, Ph.D., FLMI, CLU, senior vice president of LOMA’s Education and Training Division. "His input and guidance through the years have proven what a great believer he is in continuing education," Rabel said.

Cooper entered the insurance industry from legal practice in 1970, joining Commonwealth Life and Capital Holding Corporation. He subsequently served as chief operating officer of Georgia International Life in Atlanta, then as president of American Income Life Insurance Company in Waco, Texas. He retired from American Income in 1999 to lead the leveraged buyout of American Amicable Life Insurance Company of Texas and Occidental Life Insurance Company of North Carolina from PennCorp Financial.