[031] Musto Tennessee Insurance Hall of Fame to Induct McDonald July 30

Release date: July 28, 2010


News & Public Affairs contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-5616 or jweiler@mtsu.edu


Musto Tennessee Insurance Hall of Fame to Induct McDonald July 30


(MURFREESBORO) — Tom McDonald, a longtime member of the insurance profession, will be inducted into the Robert E. Musto Tennessee Insurance Hall of Fame Friday, July
30,in Murfreesboro.
The induction ceremony festivities will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Embassy Suites Hotel and Conference Center, 1200 Conference Center Dr., adjacent to Interstate 24 and Medical Center Parkway, in Murfreesboro.
McDonald will be inducted along with Joe Rackley of Pulaski and Dan Brooks of Rutledge.
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“Quote,” said Dr. Ken Hollman, chairholder of the Martin Chair of Insurance at MTSU. “Quote.
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Information.
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More information.

Tom McDonald

Tom McDonald is the second enshrinee into the Robert E. Musto Insurance Hall of Fame this evening. A retired Tennessee Farmers Insurance Companies executive, Tom resides now in Franklin, Tennessee but he is originally from Jamestown, TN where he graduated from Alvin C. York Institute. Tom received a scholarship to play football at Austin Peay State University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Education degree in 1970.
Tom had a storied career with Tennessee Farmers Insurance Companies, or Farm Bureau. He was an agent there in 1974-1975, and was one of the company’s top producers. He became Director/Vice President of Sales for the Company in 1975 and served in that capacity until 1994. During this period, he reorganized the company’s sales regions to foster the expansion of the company’s agency force, led the effort to develop the company’s Agents Commitments for Success and the Statement of Corporate Purpose, and expanded the agents incentive programs. He also developed the agents’ training program for Farm Bureau Insurance and developed and participated in the company’s estate planning program.
Tom was Chief Marketing Officer for Tennessee Farmers Insurance Companies from 1994 to 1996, and then became Regional Agency Manager for the company from 1997 to March, 2007.
According to one of his superiors, in the period from 1975 to 1996, Tom was “the driving force in laying the groundwork for developing what is arguably the best captive agency force in the country. He set the expectations that agents must commit to be successful in their careers through a broad-based support of the Farm Bureau organization, the insurance companies, and through consistent personal productivity. Those same expectations remain in place today.”
The author went on to add that “Under Tom’s leadership, the agency force grew from 70 agents when Tom became Director of Sales to more than 400 agents by 1996. As a result, Tennessee Farmers Life Insurance Company ranks as the number one writer of individual life insurance in Tennessee.” It has held this lofty rank for seven consecutive years.
Tom has championed the causes and interests of agents throughout his career. He has an extraordinary history of service to agents groups at the local, state, and national levels. He has served as LUPIC Chairman for the Tennessee Association of Life Underwriter and as Regional Vice-President of the Tennessee Association of Life Underwriters. He has also been Chairman of the multi-line committee for NAIFA Nashville and Treasurer of NAIFA Tennessee from 1998 to 2008. He is a former president of NAIFA of Nashville and a former board member of LIMRA International.
Tom is a past member of the General Agents and Managers Association and a past member of the American Society of CLU and ChFC. He served as a member and later became Chair of the Insurance Liaison Committee of the Martin Chair of Insurance at MTSU during some of its most explosive growth years.
Tom is a great believer in Insurance education. He has served as moderator of LUTC and AMTC classes, participated in the LIMRA Executive Development Program on “Strategies”, and attended the LIMRA Senior Marketing offices seminar. He attended an institute at the Vanderbilt University Owens Graduate School of Management on “Finance and Accounting for the Non-Financial Executive,” one at Belmont College on “A Manager’s Guide to Human Behavior,” and he was a member of the first graduating class of the LIMRA Leadership Institute. Tom has also been outstanding in his ability to educate and enlighten through his presentations, publications, and teaching. He has spoken at numerous insurance industry functions nationwide.
Tom has always stressed the value of continuing education and professional designations. Toward that objective, the Tennessee Farmers’ agency force during his tenure as head of sales and marketing set the example by earning more professional designations (as a percentage) than its peer group companies.
Tom has been generously recognized by an appreciative insurance industry for his community, civic, and educational efforts. NAIFA Tennessee in 2004 awarded him the Red Adams Award winner, and NAIFA Tennessee in 2006 named him as Insurance Professional of the Year.
Helping others has always been important to Tom. Whether it is faith, family, or personal achievement, his nominator said, Tom stands out among the group. Wherever he is involved, he generates tremendous pride for those with whom he is associated. He has the knowledge, demeanor, discipline, and all-around balance to rise to the top, regardless of the circumstances, and he has set the bar to encourage others in the business to perform at their best.
Spiritual growth and integrity are important aspects of Tom’s life and work and form the basis for his long history of contribution and service to so many worthy causes. Tom and his wife Susan have been very active in their church for many years. Tom is a Deacon in the Brentwood Baptist Church, and he serves as Chairman of the Deacons. He is also a Stephen Minister in the church (helps church members in crisis).
In addition to his work with his church, Tom’s involvement with his community has been both extensive and intense. He participates in Room in the Inn, providing food and shelter to homeless, and he has participated in the Reconstruct summer program, providing opportunities for youth nation-wide to provide service to less fortunate individuals. He is a financial officer for First Priority of American, a national teen ministry, and he is involved with CES, a youth business development program, where he is an important influence and role model for local high school and college students. He is also a recipient of the CES Member of the Year Award, and he is active with the Boys from the Sudan, a group helping Sudanese refugees find shelter and employment. He participates in Middle Tennessee Heart Association fund raising efforts, and in his spare time, he helps to build homes for Habitat for Humanity.
This brief biographical information, to some degree, reflects Tom’s leadership capacity and selfless giving attitude. However, it does not adequately reflect the respect he enjoys from his colleagues and particularly, his superiors. Associates express appreciation for his assistance in advancing them in their careers. Many have accepted greater challenges by following his example. His superiors are effusive in their praise for his work in developing the highly effective Farm Bureau agency force. They see him as an exemplary person of integrity and professionalism who not only promoted the interests of his company but who also enhanced the image of our industry in his community and state, as well as in the country.
Indeed Tom is an extremely deserving person of the recognition he is receiving. His enshrinement adds honor to the Robert E. Musto Tennessee Insurance Hall of Fame, an august body which he enters as the forty-third inductee. Let us make welcome, Tom McDonald.


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Editor’s note: A high-resolution, black-and-white photo of Tom McDonald is available. Please contact Randy Weiler in the Office of News & Public Affairs by calling 615-898-5616 or e-mail jweiler@mtsu.edu.

With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.

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