Contact: Sammy McDavid
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Not surprisingly, Hurricane Katrina will receive a good share of attention next month when Mississippi State holds its 19th annual Insurance Day gathering.
Sponsored by the College of Business and Industry's Peter K. Lutken Chair of Insurance, the daylong March 29 program in the university's Bost Extension Center auditorium includes a series of assemblies and continuing education sessions The college's risk management, insurance and financial planning academic program is co-sponsor of the event.
As is traditional, the 8 a.m. opening session features a round-table discussion with Mississippi Insurance Commissioner George Dale and two counterparts from other states. This year's guests, commissioners Eleanor Kitzman of South Carolina and Gary Smith of Idaho, represent states with their own histories of major natural disasters over the last two decades.
Among other featured speakers will be well-known Boston attorney and radio talk show host Bill Bailey. A former Hurricane Insurance Information Center co-director now heard nationwide each Sunday on "It's Your Money," Bailey will focus on post-Katrina litigation involving the state of Mississippi and several insurance companies.
Former Montana governor Marc Racicot, current president of the American Insurance Association, and Tony Pavia, president of AIG Agency Auto insurance company, will lead other sessions.
Held each spring semester, MSU Insurance Day traditionally attracts some 500 professionals. They include insurance company attorneys, claims adjusters and agents, as well as fire investigators, legislators, municipal and county managers, and law enforcement officials.
Edwin L. Duett Jr., a veteran College of Business and Industry faculty member, holds the Lutken endowed professorship.
NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: For a complete schedule and more information, contact Duett or Tammi Riddle at (662) 325-2341 or eduett@cobilan.msstate.edu.