757 Graduates Receive CPCU Designation; Total Now Near 65,000

The American Institute for CPCU honored 757 new graduates of the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU program at the 2008 CPCU conferment ceremony in Philadelphia, Pa., the birthplace of the CPCU designation.

The 2008 class brings the number of CPCU designations conferred since the program’s inception to nearly 65,000.

The profile of the 2008 CPCU class honored at the conferment ceremony reveals the following: The youngest designee is 24; the oldest, 67. Men represent 60 percent of the designees, and women, 40 percent. New designees come from 47 of the 50 states and Puerto Rico.

Graduates also come from Bermuda, Brazil, China, Germany, India, Ireland, Pakistan, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, West Indies, United Kingdom and Zambia.

Designees also come from a wide variety of job functions. The CPCU’s survey showed that nearly 60 percent work in claims, commercial underwriting, and sales and marketing.

Peter L. Miller, CPCU, the Institute’s president and CEO, presided over the conferment ceremony and welcomed the class.

“Each one of you has made history by earning the CPCU designation. History, like being a CPCU, is a journey,” he said. “This is just one milestone in your personal and professional lives. You’ve made history today, having passed the required examinations and met the experience and ethics requirements of the CPCU program.”

The featured speaker at this year’s conferment ceremony was Phil Keoghan, renowned adventurer and host of The Amazing Race television show. Keoghan is a four time Emmy Award winner and author of the bestselling book—No Opportunity Wasted: NOW: 8 Ways to Create a List for the Life You Want.

Keoghan shared an account of his near death experience while scuba diving at the age of 19 and how his outlook on life was forever changed. He stated in his book, “It changed me, immediately and profoundly. It gave me a sense of urgency, a hunger for life, that many people don’t feel until they’re approaching the actual, irreversible end of their lives. It is only then that so many of us finally arrive at a reckoning point and ask: ‘What must I do before I die?'”

Keoghan told the gathering of CPCUs and guests about how he made a list on a paper bag right there in the boat, immediately after he was rescued. In his dynamic presentation, he encouraged each audience member to act with the same urgency and make a list for the life he or she wants. Keoghan also related stories about The Amazing Race and showed video clips of his world record bungee jump and dining on top of an erupting volcano.

Sources: The American Institute for CPCU/Insurance Institute of America
www.cpcuiiia.org