Trio of Risk Management Legends Inducted into Risk Management Hall of Fame

NEW YORK (April 27, 2015) —RIMS, the risk management society™, and American International Group, Inc. (AIG) today announced Gary E. Bird, James D. Hinton and Reginald A. Pitchford as the 2015 inductees to the Risk Management Hall of Fame (RMHF).  The RMHF serves as a means to maintain the history of the field of risk management and recognizes risk practitioners who have made significant contributions to advancing the discipline. Both honorees were officially inducted at RIMS 2015 Annual Conference & Exhibition in New Orleans.

The RMHF Selection Committee considers the following criteria for membership in the RMHF: considerable contributions to the field; significant achievements, innovation and trend setting; demonstrated leadership, character and service; and the highest caliber of ethical and professional conduct.

“With an eye on the future, it’s important that we remember the risk management leaders who have laid the groundwork, generously volunteered their experiences and demonstrated an unwavering commitment to advancing the profession,” said RIMS Executive Director Mary Roth. “Gary, James and Reginald are shining examples of this industry’s best and it is a privilege to announce their induction into the Risk Management Hall of Fame.”

“AIG is proud to partner with RIMS to announce the induction of Gary, James and Reginald into this year’s Risk Management Hall of Fame,” said Rob Schimek, President and CEO of the Americas for AIG. “Throughout their professional careers, these industry leaders have gone above and beyond to make significant achievements in risk management. It is truly an honor to recognize them for their success.”

The 2015 inductees to the RMHF are:

GARY E. BIRD, CPCU, ARM
Gary E. Bird was a member of the risk management and insurance community for more than 19 years.  His last position was as senior vice president in Construction Risk Management at Marsh & McLennan.  Previously, he was the director of risk management at Phelps Dodge Corporation where he spent most of his career.  Gary looked at risk on an enterpirse-wide basis before “enterprise risk management” became the industry buzz-phrase.  He identified risks outside the usual physical hazards and collaborated with his firm’s finance, credit and international operations to identify and set strategy for insurable and non-insurable risks.

Most notably, Gary is the author of the first three editions of The Wrap-Up Guide, an internationally recognized series that explores strategies and best-practices for managing liability policies designed to serve as all-encompassing insurance for all contractors and subcontractors. The esteem with which his peers held him motivated IRMI to change the name of its annual construction risk management award to The Gary E. Bird Horizon Award. The award is presented annually to a risk or safety manager who has implemented an innovative risk management program for a construction project.

Some of Gary’s professional achievements included: an endeavor to address injury and fatality rates among third-party contractors that were above accepted levels on a number of sites.  His commitment to this initiative led to the reduction of lost time rates to 10% of previous levels, as well as lowering fatalities from 1 every 18 months to zero over a similar time frame. He also led an initiative to address the environmental exposures of his company and those of its environmental contractors; and introduced safety programs to better protect fellow employees, the employees of contractors working on site, as well as public exposures.

Dedicated to bettering the risk management profession, Gary was an active member of RIMS, serving as president of the Society’s Arizona Central Chapter.  He taught many classes, presented at industry trade conferences including RIMS Annual Conference & Exhibition, participated in industry panels and wrote white papers and articles on a wide-range of risk management subjects.  Gary also embraced bringing new, younger people onto his team.  He loved to teach and commented that, “the way they examine problems isn’t constrained by what they have already been taught.”

Gary lived in Tempe, Arizona from 1973 until his tragic death on September 11, 2001.  He was very active serving the community.  He was active with the Tempe Jaycees and was a founding member, past president and chariman of the Tempe Boys & Girls Club.  He served for six years on the Tempe Planning and Zoning Commission including one year as chairman and served ten years on the Tempe Industrial Development Authority.

JAMES D. “JIM” HINTON
James D. “Jim” Hinton retired in 2012, having worked for the Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) and its predecessor companies for 33 years, the last 23 of which he was the Vice President of Risk & Insurance. He was also the President of Health Care Indemnity, Inc., HCA’s captive insurance company. In these capacities, Mr. Hinton was responsible for overall management of HCA’s insurance, claims management and loss prevention programs.

Innovation was a characteristic of Jim’s 23 years of risk management leadership. He believed that practices can’t be changed unless they are measured…and the risk management job for HCA was not in underwriting or selecting the risk in a traditional sense, but in changing the risk for the better. In addition to having great success in changing risks and developing innovative loss prevention programs for his organization, he lobbied successfully with industry colleagues to change the legal environment by investing heavily in tort reform efforts in Texas, Nevada, etc.

A member of Humana’s team in 1989 that won its landmark captive tax case with the Internal Revenue Service, Jim was considered an expert in this area of risk management and was frequently asked to speak on captive insurance and various risk management topics.

Jim was an active member of RIMS Cumberland Chapter in Nashville.  He was a CPA and a member of the American Institute of CPA’s, the Kentucky Society of CPA’s, the American Society of Healthcare Risk Management (ASHRM) and the Professional Liability Underwriting Society (PLUS).

Jim was recognized as the Business Insurance magazine’s Risk Manager of the Year in 2005 for his successful programs at HCA.  He earned his Bachelor of Business Administration degree, with a specialty in accounting, from the University of Notre Dame and his MBA from the University of Louisville.

Jim Hinton is remembered for his heart and compassion as much as he is for his technical skills. He was the first recipient of HCA’s Phil Patton Community Service Award – awarded to an employee who demonstrates exemplary commitment to the needs of the underserved in the community. He served on the Boards of United Way of Metro Nashville and United Cerebral Palsy of Middle Tennessee where he led a successful capital campaign to raise money to buy the building that currently houses the organization. He was treasurer and Board President of Brightstone, an agency that creates educational, vocational and residential opportunities for disabled adults, his service spirited by his own son who is disabled with cerebral palsy. It was in this spirit of service and compassion that the James D. Hinton Memorial Captive Insurance Volunteer Award was created and awarded to Jim posthumously for his outstanding leadership within the captive insurance community.

Jim Hinton passed away in 2012. 

REGINALD A. “REG” PITCHFORD
Reginald A. “Reg” Pitchford was the most prominent mentor and advocate of risk management in Manitoba and RIMS Manitoba Chapter (MARIMS) – a risk management legacy that began even before Manitoba achieved official RIMS chapter status in 1976.

Reg began his career as an underwriter with Insurance Brokers until 1954 when he was transferred to Montreal with an insurance company as an inspector.  In 1960, he transferred to Winnipeg with the same company as Prairie Manager. In 1967, Reg was offered a senior position with United Grain Growers (UGG) Insurance Department which led to a promotion as Corporate Risk Manager in 1967. He held this position until his early retirement in 1984.

Reg’s enthusiasm, charisma and thoughtful belief of a primary risk function established a strong foundation within UGG would ultimately lead to one of the first successful early applications of a series of risk processes that would later be referred to by many as “Enterprise Risk Management.” He applied the concept of “Cost of Risk” at UGG…a principle that is still tracked at the organization today.  By the time Reg retired from UGG, he had planted the evolutionary seed within the organization that would see basic risk principles be applied within essentially all areas of business activity. 
 
A Donald M. Stuart Award winner in 1984, Reg was instrumental in maintaining the MARIMS Chapter during its early years, running annual contests for the risk managers that attended and welcoming newcomers with open arms.  During those early years, he served as MARIMS Chapter President, as well as serving as president of the Insurance Institute of Manitoba and sitting on the Council of the Insurance Institutes of Canada.

He was a Fellow of the Insurance Institute of Canada where he taught during the 1960’s and 1970’s. He also authored several articles and organizational publications including “The Employees Role in Risk Management” for UGG.

Reg joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) Volunteer Reserve, Medical Service at the beginning of the World War II and was called for active service in February, 1941. He later joined the Staff Commonwealth Air Training Programme in Canada at the RAF base hospital in Moncton, NB.

Reg passed away in October 2014 at the age of 92. 

About the Risk Management Hall of Fame
The Risk Management Hall of Fame (RMHF) is home to those risk professionals who have made exceptional contributions to advancing the risk management discipline. RMHF is a joint venture of the RIMS and AIG, and was created to preserve the history and tradition of the profession. Founded in 2011, nominees are considered from around the globe and inductees are selected by the RMHF Selection Committee. New members to the Risk Management Hall of Fame are announced yearly at the RIMS Annual Conference & Exhibition. For more information, visit www.RiskHallofFame.org.

About AIG
American International Group, Inc. (AIG) is a leading global insurance organization serving customers in more than 100 countries and jurisdictions. AIG companies serve commercial, institutional, and individual customers through one of the most extensive worldwide property-casualty networks of any insurer. In addition, AIG companies are leading providers of life insurance and retirement services in the United States. AIG common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

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