[018] ROBERT E. ROSE TO BE INDUCTED INTO INSURANCE HALL OF FAME

July 17, 2009

CONTACT: Tom Tozer, 615-898-2919
Dr. Kenneth Hollman, 615-898-2673


ROBERT E. ROSE TO BE INDUCTED INTO INSURANCE HALL OF FAME

MURFREESBORO—Robert E. Rose, insurance professional and public servant for five decades in middle Tennessee, will be inducted into Middle Tennessee State University’s Robert E. Musto Tennessee Insurance Hall of Fame, joining 40 other professionals in that esteemed group. The ceremony will be held at the Embassy Suites Hotel and Conference Center in Murfreesboro on Tuesday, Aug. 4.
In 1948, as the Tennessee Farm Bureau was organizing an insurance division to serve its membership, Mr. Rose was one of the first agents hired to open and operate the Rutherford County Farm Bureau office. It was first located in downtown Murfreesboro, then later moved to Broad Street and is now at 818 Church Street. As Rutherford County agency manager, Rose was in charge of handling the staff and agents of a large insurance agency while also serving as a liaison to the Rutherford County Farm Bureau Board of Directors. He served in this capacity for 37 years until he retired in 1985.
During this period, Mr. Rose built the Rutherford County Farm Bureau into the largest Farm Bureau agency in the state. By the time he retired, Rutherford County Farm Bureau had a larger number of insured members than any other county in Tennessee.
During his almost four-decade tenure, Rose oversaw the inception and growth of Tennessee Farmers Mutual Insurance Company, which offered home, auto and farm insurance. The company provided life insurance through an arrangement with Southern Farm Bureau until Tennessee Farmers Life Insurance Company was formed in 1972. Throughout his career, Mr. Rose won many of the incentive trips offered by Southern Farm Bureau and Tennessee Farmers Life, and he enjoyed the reputation of being a champion for the agents who worked under him.
Rose’s extensive involvement in civic affairs includes membership in the North Boulevard Church of Christ, since 1944, and the Optimist Club, where he helped establish Little League Baseball in Murfreesboro. He was a founding board member of National Bank of Murfreesboro in 1955. He remained in that position following the merger with First Tennessee Bank and then became the board chairman in 1976, a position from which he just recently stepped down.
In addition, Rose has served on the Rutherford County Board of Education (1956 to 1964), Murfreesboro City Council (1966 to 1982), Murfreesboro Electric Board for 30 years, Rutherford County Industrial Development Board for 12 years, Rutherford County Adult Activity Center Board for 20 years and the Rutherford County Election Commissioner for 16 years.
The City of Murfreesboro honored Mr. Rose for his years of dedication and service to our city by naming a street after him, Robert E. Rose Drive, which runs behind Stones River Mall through Thompson Lane. The only other individual within the insurance industry for whom Murfreesboro has bestowed the same honor is the late Tommy Martin, namesake of the Martin Chair of Insurance at MTSU and an inductee in the Robert E. Musto Tennessee Insurance Hall of Fame Class of 1999.
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, who died earlier this year, was regional sales manager of the company his father helped build.
Including the inductees for 2009, there are 41 members in the Robert E. Musto Insurance Hall of Fame, which is under the auspices of the Tommy T. Martin Chair of Insurance in MTSU’s Jennings A. Jones College of Business. Dr. Kenneth W. Hollman is holder of the Martin Chair.
Also being inducted on Aug. 4 are Joseph M. Clinard Jr. of Nashville and E. Denby Brandon Jr. of Memphis.

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