Can you imagine a LOMA without LOMANET? A LOMA without I*STAR? A LOMA without a Master Fellow Program? No. Certainly not. But 10 years ago, there was no LOMANET, there was no I*STAR, there was no Master Fellow Program. Thanks in large part to James Clark’s long-range vision, influence, and tireless effort, LOMA now makes available to the insurance industry all of these valuable advancements—and more.

James Clark, executive vice president, Western & Southern Life, believes in change and believes in LOMA. Clark’s influence was instrumental in bringing about important changes in LOMA’s insurance education programs. And in appreciation for his valuable contributions toward the improvement of insurance education in general and to the FLMI program in particular, LOMA will honor him with its highest award, the 1990 annual FLMI Insurance Education Award. The award will be presented at LOMA’s annual conference September 16–18 in San Francisco.

LOMA’s education programs have grown by leaps and bounds in the last 10 years as a result of Clark’s influence. As chairman of the Life Management Institute Council (now the Education and Training Council), he was instrumental in initiating and carrying out the 1980 long-range plan, from which emerged a number of important developments.

The plan called for LOMA to meet industry education needs at four levels: remedial and ancillary education, fundamentals, professional-level, and mastery. In particular, the council felt that LOMA needed to provide post-FLMI education, which led to the creation of the Master Fellow Program. While there are many unique things about the program, perhaps the most important is the Strategic Management capstone course. This is the first integrative, case study course offered anywhere on an independent study basis.

Under Clark’s leadership, the council also elected to expand the number of courses from eight to 10. Marketing was added to the core courses in the program, reflecting Clark’s belief that "ours is a marketing industry. Everything we do has a marketing dimension, whether we are in the field or in the home office."

At the same time that Clark was pushing for the expansion in the number of FLMI courses, he was also encouraging LOMA to increase the number of FLMI program study materials it was publishing. In the early 1980s, LOMA owned only 25 percent of the publications, while 75 percent were the property of commercial publishers. At this point that ratio has been reversed, notes Clark, with significant benefits to the life and health insurance industry. "First, the materials are insurance-specific, rather than dealing with general principles and practices. Second, price increases are held to a bare minimum, as compared to increases for comparable books in the college market. Finally," he notes, "LOMA doesn’t publish a new edition every three years, just to generate profits by making the old textbooks obsolete."

The 1980 long-range plan set the stage for increasing the quality of service to FLMI students and educational representatives by laying out concepts that led to the development of LOMANET registration for FLMI examinations and examinations by computer on the I*STAR system. It also called for the periodic psychometric audit of the FLMI testing function, to be performed by an independent professional psychometrician. This "watchdog function" provides the council, LOMA member companies, and FLMI students with the assurance that all FLMI tests are fair and provide the most scientific and up-to-date testing possible. LOMA is the only testing organization that employs such an independent evaluation, and it was considered revolutionary when proposed in the plan.

Clark began his career at Western & Southern Life as assistant to the comptroller, rising through the ranks to become director, executive vice president and secretary. His interest in training and professional development led to many years of involvement with LOMA. "LOMA is the best information and education organization I’ve run across," he says. "I am more involved with LOMA than any other organization. LOMA helped me learn the insurance business through the FLMI program. And I find the LOMA information center a valuable resource."

Clark served as his company’s principal representative for a number of years, and he served three terms on the Education and Training Council during the period 1975 through 1988. The 1980 long range plan which was developed and published during Clark’s 1980-1982 chairmanship, was the first long-range plan for the division since the early 1960s.

"My company has reaped many benefits from LOMA membership in addition to the education and information sharing," Clark, says. He and other Western & Southern employees stay involved with LOMA committees, which are valuable for their networking and idea exchange opportunities. "The Senior Administrative Officers group, to which I belong, helps me keep up with what other companies are doing and gives me new ideas to try out. And I found the Executive Development Program extremely helpful," he adds.

Clark’s long-range vision and his belief in the necessity for and importance of change continue to serve as a standard for the future of the insurance community and for LOMA.

Click here for a list of other LOMA Education Award recipients.