PULLMAN — The 16th annual Walton Lecture will be given by Mike Keyes, president and CEO of Oregon Mutual Insurance Company, at 5 p.m. Oct. 6 at the WSU College of Business in the Pullman campus. The lecture, presented by the Department of Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate, will be held in Todd Hall 276 and will focus on current issues in the property and liability insurance industry.
Keyes was named president and CEO of Oregon Mutual in 2000 after joining the company as vice president and treasurer in 1989. Keyes is a 1970 graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Madison with a Bachelor of Arts in business administration, and has earned the Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation. Before joining Oregon Mutual, Keyes was executive vice president of the Hagan-Hamilton Insurance agency.
Based in McMinnville, Ore., the company markets personal and business insurance, with over 120,000 policyholders throughout Oregon, California, Nevada, Washington and Idaho. With assets totaling $215 million, the company wrote $118 million in direct premiums in 2007.
The Walton Lecture is funded through an endowment from the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of Washington (IIABW). The endowment honors IIABW past-president Max Walton. The Walton Lecture has brought a number of influential representatives from the insurance industry to campus. Some previous speakers include former Safeco president and CEO, Mike McGavick; Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler; and Stan W. McNaughton, president and CEO of PEMCO Insurance.
For more information about the event, please contact Associate Professor Mike McNamara at 335-5632 or MJMcNam@wsu.edu.
