King of Prussia, June 17, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- KING OF PRUSSIA, PA – June 17, 2020 – Three-time alumnus Christopher Blunt, CLU®, ChFC®, CAP®, and his wife Gretchen Nickel have donated $1 million to establish the Blunt-Nickel Professorship in Philanthropy at The American College of Financial Services. The generous gift will support an expansion of The American College Initiatives in Philanthropy, which are built on the foundation of the Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy® (CAP®) education program at The College, one of the only philanthropy educators to provide informative resources and a community network base to charitable advisors and gift planners. The Blunt-Nickel Professorship will initially focus on convening, connecting, and educating corporate leaders and entrepreneurs in transition from “success to significance.”
“We are so very grateful to Chris and Gretchen for this opportunity, which they have provided with this transformational humanitarian gift, and hope their legacy through The College will be a rising wave of informed generosity for our country and the world,” said George Nichols III, President and CEO of The American College of Financial Services. “This gift will allow The College to create a program to educate and empower executive leaders who aspire to deploy their resources to positively affect society, and find meaning and purpose through philanthropy.”
Blunt is President and CEO of F&G, an annuity and life insurance company in Des Moines, Iowa, and is former Senior Managing Director and CEO of Blackstone Insurance Solutions. Before joining Blackstone, he spent 13 years at New York Life, most recently as President of their Investments Group. Prior to that role, he was Co-President of the Insurance and Agency Group of New York Life.
Nickel is a Partner at MFP Technology Services, an international wholesale distributer of IT solutions. An accomplished operations and finance executive, she has spent more than 30 years reinventing and growing financial services and technology companies.
“Gretchen and I are proud to support The American College of Financial Services,” said Blunt. “Education has been a pillar of our philanthropy and we look forward to the impact the Professorship will have on leaders who desire to learn how philanthropy can be used to benefit society, and find purpose and fulfillment in life.”
The College will appoint Blunt as its inaugural Philanthropist in Residence this summer. In this honorary position, Blunt will volunteer his time in an advisory role and will assist and support the Blunt-Nickel Professor of Philanthropy.
“Chris Blunt has long been a role model for me, not only as corporate leader, but also as a philanthropist,” said Assistant Professor of Philanthropy and CAP® Program Director Phil Cubeta, CLU®, ChFC®, MSFS, AEP®, CAP®. “It is an honor and delight to expand The College initiatives in philanthropy with this gift and with the living example of the donors, Chris and his wife, Gretchen.”
As a passionate patron of The College, Blunt has dedicated many years to its success. He served on The College’s Board of Trustees from 2009 to 2015, returned to the Board in 2018, and currently serves as the Board Chair of the Finance and Investment Committee. He was The College’s 2018 Alumni Hall of Fame inductee and has earned a number of his professional credentials from The College, including the CAP® designation. Blunt has been instrumental in the success of the New York Life Center for Retirement Income and the Retirement Income Certified Professional® (RICP®) program. He established the John Wallace Blunt Endowed Military Scholarship Fund in honor of his father, Captain John Wallace Blunt. He and Gretchen are members of The American College Second Century Society, which recognizes and honors donors who have made lifetime gifts of $1 million or more.
In addition to his dedication to The College, he also serves on the Board of the YMCA of Greater New York and the Dean's Advisory Committee for the College of Literature Science and the Arts at The University of Michigan.
The CAP® designation is designed to help financial advisors, gift planning officers, attorneys, accountants, nonprofits professionals, and community foundation leaders serve generous people with charitable passions, while also ensuring the intent of the funds for their benefactors. The CAP® graduate-level education program covers application of tax strategies, tools, and techniques for charitable giving; understanding client or donor goals and putting together holistic financial strategies that meet those goals; advising wealthy families on important financial matters, including business exit planning, estate planning, and legacy planning; handling gift-planning for nonprofits, including developing six- to eight-figure gifts from high-capacity donors; and using financial skills and philanthropic planning to make a positive difference in your community and the world.
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ABOUT THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF FINANCIAL SERVICES
The American College of Financial Services was founded in 1927 and is the nation’s largest nonprofit educational institution devoted to financial services. Holding the highest level of academic accreditation, The College has educated one in five financial advisors across the United States and offers two master’s degrees in management and financial services, along with prestigious financial planning designations such as the Retirement Income Certified Professional® (RICP®), Chartered Life Underwriter® (CLU®), Wealth Management Certified Professional® (WMCP®), Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy® (CAP®), Chartered Special Needs Consultant® (ChSNC®), Chartered Financial Consultant® (ChFC®), and education leading to the Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP®) certification. The College’s faculty represents some of the foremost thought leaders in the financial services profession. Visit TheAmericanCollege.edu and connect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.
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