Forrest E. Mills, Jr. of Guaranty Income Life Insurance Company Elected as 2014-2015 IASA President

DURHAM, NC--(Marketwired - Jul 1, 2014) - IASA, one of the insurance industry's largest and most well-represented trade associations, is pleased to announce that Forrest E. Mills, Jr. of Guaranty Income Life Insurance Company (Guaranty) has been elected to serve as president of the association for the 2014 - 2015 fiscal year.

"I am deeply humbled and proud to be the next president of IASA," said Forrest Mills, chief financial officer for Guaranty, and newly-elected IASA President. "As an IASA volunteer, I have had the opportunity to work with a talented group of people that encouraged me to grow in areas outside of my comfort zone. That is the beauty of IASA, volunteers from all aspects of the insurance industry pool talents and come together to deliver first-class education and events. This interaction has provided me with both personal and professional growth, in an environment that is instructional, inspirational, and encouraging."

Mills, like many others in the insurance finance area, began his career in public accounting at Postlethwaite & Netterville, APAC in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He soon, however, accepted a position as treasurer and controller for State National Companies, a position he held for several years before the Liberty Corporation acquired State National in 1994 and he became director of audit services in the company's Greenville, South Carolina office. Although he enjoyed that position, Mills couldn't pass up the opportunity to move back home, and eventually accepted his current position with Guaranty.

At IASA during the next year, Mills will be working with a talented, appointed volunteer management team. The team includes the following vice-presidents: Margaret Horn - Business Show, Chuck Gunkel - Chapters, Beech Turner - Education, Celeska Fredianelli - E-Learning, Laurie Macklosky - Industry Relations, Rod Travers - Marketing, Dottie Augustine - Membership, Carlos Correa - Seminars, and Karyn Spaude - Volunteer Development. The new team plans to work on enhancing the volunteer experience and continuing progress on initiatives to utilize technology that significantly expands the association's ability to put insurance educational materials in the hands of IASA members.

In addition to the election of Mills as IASA President, the association's members nominated Tim Morgan of The Republic Group as president-elect, Tom Ewbank of The Ewbank Group as chief financial officer, and Mary Ellen Freyermuth of Catholic Mutual Group as chief information officer. Board members at-large for the association will include: Sonia Cliffel of First American Equipment Finance, Miguel Edwards of Allstate, Brian Ollech of The Warranty Group, Darby O'Neill of Princeton Insurance, and Linda Paolucci of TIAA-CREF. As immediate past president for IASA and in accordance with the association's bylaws, Beth Mercier, vice president, personal lines, for Traveler's Companies, automatically becomes board chair for the upcoming fiscal year.

For more information regarding this release, please contact Jennifer Overhulse, Principal Owner of St. Nick Media Services, via email at jen@stnickmedia.com or via phone at (859) 803-6597.

About IASA
The Insurance Accounting & Systems Association, Inc. (IASA) is a non-profit, education association that strives to enhance the knowledge of insurance industry professionals, and participants from similar organizations closely allied with the insurance industry by facilitating the exchange of ideas and information. IASA is one of the insurance industry's largest, and most well represented trade association. IASA membership includes insurance companies of all types (Property & Casualty, Life, Health, Fraternal, HMO and others) as members, as well as companies serving the insurance industry, regulators and also organizations more broadly representative of the financial services industry, including banks and investment brokerage firms. Learn more about IASA by visiting our website at www.iasa.org, or by calling (919) 489-0991.