The Charles A. Will Award

Congratulations to Brandon May of Northwestern Mutual! Brandon is the 2023 recipient of the Charles A. Will Award, sponsored by Gen Re!

Charles A. Will was a Senior Vice President, Underwriting at Cologne Re in 1974 when he authored the book “Does It Make Sense?”, a text that encapsulated the process of decision making for underwriters. In 1994, General Re® formed an alliance with Cologne Re (now General Reinsurance AG). Berkshire Hathaway acquired General Re Corporation in 1998 and five years later, General Re and Cologne Re began marketing globally under the brand name of Gen Re. Gen Re has long been known as an ‘underwriting company’ and it is their pleasure and privilege to continue the legacy of Mr. Will’s impact on the underwriting profession through their sponsorship of the Charles A. Will Award.

The recipient of the award is the new FALU with the highest aggregate score on all of the ALU exams. The Charles A. Will Award recipient receives a larger version of the crystal globe that all new FALUs receive, and payment of his or her expenses (airfare, hotel and registration fee) for the annual AHOU conference where the international underwriting community will recognize his or her accomplishment.

Recipients of the Charles A. Will Award

1993 - John Custer, Metropolitan

1994 - Paula Mendonça, Financial Life of Canada

1995 - Elizabeth Watson, Crown Life

1996 - Lori Lown, Century Life of America

1997 - Kathy Richter, Minnesota Mutual Life

1998 - William Camm, M.D., AUL

1999 - Dennis Dickman, State Farm Life Insurance Company

2000 - Hsu (Jasmin)Huei Huang, Allianz Insurance Mgmt Asia Pacific

2001 - David Wright, GE Financial Assurance

2002 - Pat Brachmann, Munich American Re

2003 - Tom Gross, New York Life

2004 - Troy Delancey, Lincoln Benefit

2005 - Melissa Meier, Modern Woodmen of America

2006 - Keyongone Oh, Samsung Life Insurance Company

2007 - Sengdavone Sophasath, Empire Financial

2008 - Lisa Kay Claussen, Hartford Life

2009 - Yongfu Chen, China Pacific Life Insurance Company

2010 - Dong Yuxing, PICC Health Insurance Company

2011 - Xiaopeng Shen, Swiss Re

2012 - Daniel P. George, MD, Mass Mutual

2013 - Amy Rider, Optimum Re Insurance Company

2014 - Kelley Gieryn, Northwestern Mutual

2015 - Scott Carrigan, Federated Life Insurance Company

2016 - Andrew Langemeier, Assurity Life Insurance Company

2017 - Tammy Kinnes, Lincoln Financial Group

2018 - Ecaterina Karina Lavric, Sun Life Financial

2019 - Dr. Sana Jafrani, TPL Life Insurance Limited

2020 - Kevin Alameddine, Swiss Re

2021 - Qianyi Yang, Cigna & CMB Life Insurance

2022 - Sheetal Salgaonkar, RGA Global Shared Services

2023 - Brandon May, Northwestern Mutual