The Midwest region scored big when the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) elected its slate of officers for the coming year.
Missouri Commissioner John M. Huff was elected president. He is a native of Potosi, MO. Huff was appointed director of the Missouri Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions and Professional Registration by Gov. Jay Nixon in 2009.
In September 2010, Huff, an attorney, was appointed to the US Financial Stability Oversight Council by NAIC. He served two terms on the council and was the initial state insurance regulator appointed. The council was created by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Before entering public service, he spent 11 years as an executive with leading insurers and reinsurers, including Swiss Re and GE Insurance Solutions.
Huff earned his bachelor's degree in business administration from Southeast Missouri State University. He earned an MBA at Saint Louis University, and his law degree from the Washington University School of Law in St. Louis.
Newly elected NAIC vice president, Ted Nickel was appointed by Governor Scott Walker as commissioner of insurance for the state of Wisconsin in January 2011. Prior to his appointment, Nickel worked for almost 18 years as director of governmental and regulatory affairs for Church Mutual Insurance Company in Merrill, WI.
He has also served on the board of directors of the Wisconsin Insurance Alliance. Nickel served on the board of directors of the Wisconsin Insurance Security Fund and the Oklahoma Property Casualty Insurance Guaranty Association, as well as having served as a member of the Legal and Government Affairs Committee of the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America. Nickel also worked in the administration of former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson.
He earned his bachelor's degree in business administration from Valparaiso University.
