017 THREE INSURANCE PROFESSIONALS INDUCTED INTO INDUSTRY HALL OF FAME

Three insurance professionals from across the state who have made outstanding contributions to Tennessee's insurance industry were inducted into the Middle Tennessee State University Robert E. Musto Tennessee Insurance Hall of Fame on July 31 at the Franklin Marriott Cool Springs. Including the current slate of inductees, a total of 31 Tennesseans have been so honored.
This year's inductees were Jack K. Westbrook of Knoxville, William Seaton Phillips of Memphis, and Roy K. McDonald of Chattanooga, the latter of whom was honored posthumously. Accepting the honor for McDonald was his son-in-law, Lee Anderson, also of Chattanooga.
"The Musto Insurance Hall of Fame was created to identify and honor those insurance professionals whose names will be mentioned most prominently when a history of the insurance industry in Tennessee is written," Dr. Ken Hollman, holder of the Martin Chair of Insurance, said.
Westbrook, CLU, RHU, ChFC, is a member of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, the American Society of Financial Service Professionals and the Knoxville Estate Planning Council. He qualified for the Million Dollar Round Table in 1957, the first Knoxville agent to qualify in his first full year of business. He became a Life Member of MDRT in 1960, the first Knoxville agent to receive that designation. He has served as president of the Knoxville Association of Life Underwriters and the Knoxville Chapter of the Society of CLU and ChFC. During his tenure as vice president of the Tennessee Association of Life Underwriters (1979-1980), the membership reached its highest point in history at 4,460 members. He was elected president of TALU in 1980 and was named TALU “Man of the Year” in 1985.
Phillips, who holds the CPCU, CLU, ARM and CPIA insurance designations, enjoyed a distinguished career at what was then Memphis State University and also created his own successful agency. He served twice as president of The Memphis Chapter of the Chartered Property & Casualty Underwriters Society. He was a member of the Society of Chartered Life Underwriters, Memphis Chapter, from 1972 to 2004 and has been a member of the Professional Insurance Agents of Tennessee for most of his professional life. Early in his career, Phillips worked for the City of Memphis, Vocational Department, where he developed and taught courses on business office skills at city high schools. He opened his agency in 1958 and sold it to Mid-South Insurance Agency in 2004.
McDonald was a newspaper man. He published a modest weekly paper in 1933 to promote specials in his Home Stores. These 73 years later, the Chattanooga Times Free Press is the largest newspaper in the city with a daily circulation exceeding 80,000 and 100,000 on Sunday. Born in Graysville, Tenn., McDonald dropped out of school in order to manage some of his father’s grocery stores in South Carolina and Florida. He moved to Chattanooga in 1924 to open his first Home Store, and eventually there were 70 Home Stores throughout the city and surrounding areas. McDonald served as a member and chairman of the board of Baroness Erlanger and T.C. Thompson Children’s Hospital for more than 20 years. He set up the Erlanger Plan for prepaid hospitalization that was later expanded to become Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Tennessee. Until his death, McDonald was BCBS’s only board chairman
In 1997, Robert L. Musto, son of Robert E. Musto, presented a $10,000 gift to MTSU's Martin Chair of Insurance in honor of his father, which provided the foundation for the Hall of Fame. The late Robert E. Musto served as vice president of the former National Life and Accident Insurance Company. Robert L. Musto of Nashville is regional sales manager of the company his father helped build.
In 2005, 40 students graduated with a major in finance/insurance or an insurance minor. In 2005-2006, 53 students received insurance scholarships through the Martin Chair of Insurance. Seventeen students worked in internships with local agencies. The MTSU chapter of Gamma Iota Sigma, with its 67 members, has won seven Grand Chapter Awards in competition with 44 other chapters across the nation. Last spring, the Martin Chair’s annual golf outing netted $30,000 for scholarships and expenses. The endowment balance for the chair is $1.210 million.

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