Ronan Tynan
Sunday General Session
 Irish tenor, recording artist, physician and champion disabled athlete Ronan Tynan moves audiences like few others can. His stirring performances have brought him international fame and his personal story of triumph in the face of adversity serves as an inspiration to audiences worldwide.
A modern day “Renaissance Man,” Tynan has faced numerous challenges throughout his well documented life and has persevered with enormous passion and determination. Born with a lower limb disability, he had both his legs amputated at age 20. Just a few weeks later he was climbing the steps of his college dorm and within a year he was competing in the Paralympic Games. He won 18 gold medals and set 14 world records, nine of which he still holds today. He was the first disabled person ever admitted to Limerick’s National College of Physical Education and became a physician specializing in orthopedic sports injuries.
At the age of 33, Tynan started taking voice lessons and, again, his natural talent shone through. In 1992, less than one year after he began studying voice, he won both the John McCormack Cup for Tenor Voice and the BBC talent show Go For It. In 1998, Tynan joined Anthony Kearns and John McDermott as The Irish Tenors, an instant worldwide sensation.
“When Ronan sings,” says Irish rock star Bono of U2, “the clouds cry but the sun turns up sooner than it would have. He sang for my father, Bob, as we put him in the ground, and it felt like shelter. The wind died down, the rain stopped for the loudest, softest voice we have … a great Irish tenor.”
Ronan’s ability to simultaneously console and inspire is well-documented. In the wake of 9/11, Tynan performed at benefits and memorial services for the finest and bravest of New York’s Police and Fire Departments, and his singing softened the sorrow at many a funeral following the tragedy.
Tynan's singing offered the gentlest consolation at the funeral of President Ronald Reagan in the summer of 2004, when an international TV audience of more than 35 million heard him sing “Amazing Grace” and Schubert's “Ave Maria,” at the personal invitation of Nancy Reagan.
If you're a fan of the New York Yankees — and Tynan himself is, big time — you might have heard him peal out one of his unforgettable performances of “God Bless America” in the seventh-inning stretch of a big game, which he frequently does.
The big Irishman has a special relationship with American audiences, and he considers New York his home away from home. “The thing I love about New York and the states” Tynan marvels “is that there are so many people who want you to do well. They will you to do well. They encourage you, and they rejoice in your success. That’s a great virtue,” he says. And while Tynan claims that “America has given me so much more than I’ll ever be able to give back,” those who have soaked in the stirring beauty of Tynan’s music and powerful message of hope may well disagree.
Ronan Tynan Video
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Van Mueller, LUTCF
Sunday General Session
Monday Educational Workshop
 Van Mueller is a Registered Representative with the Wisconsin Agency of New England Financial Services. Mueller is a 36 year industry veteran. He is an active member of MDRT having qualified for Court of the Table in 1990 and Top of the Table for the last 19 years. Mueller has served as an LUTC moderator in the past and is looking forward to doing so again. He also served as a Past-President of the Milwaukee Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors.
Mueller was awarded the Milwaukee NAIFA Distinguished Service Award for 2003. He has also qualified for the National Sales Achievement Award, the National Quality Award, the Health Insurance Quality Award, and has qualified many times for the National Association of Health Underwriters Leading Producers Round Table. Mueller is a member of the Association of Health Insurance Agents and the National Association of Health Underwriters. He is also a member of the Society of Financial Service Professionals, an Emissary Contributor to IFAPAC and a diamond Knight of the MDRT Foundation. |
Cliff F. Wilson, CLU, ChFC, LUTCF NAIFA President
Sunday General Session
 Cliff Wilson, a 36-year industry veteran, is president of Southeast Agency located in Chandler, Arizona, and the president of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors. First elected to the NAIFA Board of Trustees in 2002, Wilson has served as trustee liaison to the Communication Committee, Government Relations Committee, Associations Committee and Membership Committee.
In addition to serving on many NAFIA committees and task forces, Wilson has served as chair of the Membership Committee and Associations Committee. He is a past president of NAIFA-Arizona, past trustee of LUTC, past board member of The American College, LILI Graduate, IFAPAC emissary and was inducted into the NAIFA Arizona Hall of Fame in 2000. Wilson was elected NAIFA secretary in 2006 at the 117th Convention in San Francisco. |
Allan G. Hancock, CLU, ChFC, AEP
First Timers Orientation
 Allan Hancock is the founder and chief executive officer of The Hancock Group in Altoona, Pennsylvania, and the 2008 recipient of the John Newton Russell Memorial Award.
A life member of the Million Dollar Round Table, Hancock is a qualifying member of MDRT’s Court of the Table. He has received the National Quality Award for the last 33 years and the National Sales Achievement Award (NSAA) for 20 years.
Hancock served as president of his local and state NAIFA associations and then president of NAIFA-National (then NALU) in 1994-95. He is a member and currently past president of the MDRT Foundation Board, as well as treasurer for the Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education. He served as a member of the American College’s Board of Trustees and served on the LUTC Board of Trustees.
Hancock’s service touches not only his industry but also his community. His volunteer credits include chair of the Altoona Redevelopment Authority; member of the Blair County Chamber of Commerce; chair of the Red Cross; member of the Home Nursing Agency Board of Directors and president of the Central Pennsylvania Community Foundation. And perhaps his most distinguished public service came as Mayor of Altoona, Pennsylvania, from 1980-1983. |
John J. Healy, CAE
Sunday National Council Session
 John J. Healy is chief executive officer of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors. Healy has more than two decades of experience leading organizations through periods of strategic change while taking them to new heights of influence and success. Prior to joining NAIFA, Healy was president of the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Association based in Rockville, Maryland. Healy was also CEO of the National Pallet & Container Association in Arlington, Virginia, and as executive vice president and CEO of the Grain Elevator & Processing Society in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Healy’s notable contributions to the business sector include his service as CEO of the 360Solutions Group, a logistics and supply chain firm serving Fortune 1000 corporate clients and their associations as they address the increasing complexities of global supply chains. He also served as vice president of business development for Germany-based IFCO Systems N.V., a global logistics, distribution and supply chain solutions provider.
In addition to being a certified association executive, Healy has been recognized by his peers in association leadership for his active participation in the American Society of Association Executives and the Center for Association Leadership. |
Peter Browne, LUTCF NAIFA Treasurer
Sunday National Council Session
 Peter Browne is a principal of Price, Raffel & Browne of New York and Los Angeles. He entered the life insurance business with Union Central as an agent in 1962. He is a past NAIFA trustee and has served NAIFA in many capacities, including vice chairman of Federal L&L, State L&L, and IFPIC. Browne has served as president of the NYC/NYS NAIFA, and the New York City GAMA.
He is a past national trustee of GAMA International, and a past trustee of LUTC. He is currently a trustee of the American College. Browne’s Industry Awards include the Julian S. Myrick Award, the Spencer L. McCarty Award, and the New York City Past President’s Leadership Award. Browne is currently in his 24th consecutive year as a member of the Top of the Table. |
Meryl Comer
Monday General Session
 Meryl Comer is an Emmy-award winning reporter, producer and talk show host with more than 30 years of experience in broadcast journalism. As a journalist specializing in business news, Comer has long understood the value of insurance products. As the primary caregiver for a husband suffering from Alzheimer’s for more than 12 years, Comer understands the emotional, physical and financial strain on caregivers and families suffering from Alzheimer’s.
No one is prepared for the emotional and physical cost of caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s, but even someone who understands the value of insurance was not prepared for the financial cost.
Winner of the 2005 Shriver Profiles in Dignity Award and the 2007 Proxmire Award, Comer was named in November 2007 as president of the Geoffrey Beene Foundation Alzheimer's Initiative. The Initiative works to:
- Expose the reality of the Alzheimer’s epidemic to more Americans
- Engage the baby boom generation in proactive personal response
- Expedite large-scale solutions by promoting early diagnostics, treatment, life planning, reimbursement and care.
Comer tells a powerful story of the importance of the products we sell and the harsh reality of a disease that is likely to touch all of our lives in some way. |
Lance Secretan
Tuesday General Session & LILI 7 Alumni Workshop
 Lance Secretan is one of the world's foremost thinkers about leadership and a renowned pioneer in innovative methods of inspiring people and organizations. The former CEO of a Fortune 100 company and an acclaimed business school professor, Secretan works with a gifted worldwide faculty changing the lives of people and transforming organizations and revolutionizing the way they think about leadership.
Thirty of Fortune’s Most Admired Companies and 11 of Fortune’s Best Companies to Work for in America are his clients. He is the international best-selling author of 14 books on leadership, an award-winning columnist, teacher, philosopher, corporate coach and mentor, and one of North America's most sought-after keynote speakers, retreat leaders, and business advisors.
In recognition of a lifetime of caring about people and the planet, Secretan was awarded the prestigious International Caring Award (often referred to as the U.S. equivalent of the Nobel Prize), whose other recipients include Mother Teresa and Jane Goodall. The International Management Council has also recognized his contribution to leadership with the McFeely Leadership Award.
Lance Secretan Video
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Mike Duffy
Tuesday General Session
 As the assistant managing editor and chief political correspondent for Time magazine, Michael Duffy has been at the center of the magazine’s political coverage for the past 20 years. Duffy is a regular on PBS’ "Washington Week with Gwen Ifill," and has appeared on "Face the Nation," "Meet The Press" and National Public Radio’s "All Things Considered." Duffy served as Time’s Washington bureau chief from 1997 to 2005. He has covered the Pentagon, Congress, national politics and, for six years, the White House. He is the co-author with Time’s Nancy Gibbs of The Preacher and the Presidents, a best-selling account of Billy Graham’s unique and complex relationship with each of the last eleven American Presidents.
Duffy is a two-time recipient of the Gerald R. Ford Award for Distinguished Reporting: once in 1994 for his coverage of the presidency, and again in 2004 for his reporting on national defense. He shared the 1998 Goldsmith Award for investigative reporting from the Joan Shorenstein Center at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. |
Susan D. Waring, CLU, ChFC
Tuesday General Session
 Susan Waring is executive vice president, chief administrative officer - State Farm Life and vice president - health in Bloomington, Ill. She is a member of the board of directors of State Farm Life, State Farm Life and Accident Assurance, and State Farm Annuity and Life companies.
Waring began working for State Farm® in 1986 as an agent in Mercersburg, Pa. In 1990, she was named agency manager in Hanover, Pa., and in 1994 she was promoted to agency director in the Concordville, Pa., office. Waring was named executive assistant - agency in the President's Office at corporate headquarters in 1996. She was named vice president - agency in the Ballston Spa, N.Y., office in 1997 and became vice president - mutual funds at corporate headquarters in 2000. She became senior vice president, chief administrative officer - State Farm Life in 2001 and assumed her current position in 2004. |
Mark Gungor
Wednesday General Session
 Mark Gungor is one of the most sought-after speakers on marriage and communication in the country. Each year, thousands attend his seminars. Gungor’s candid and comedic approach uses unforgettable illustrations to teach proven principles that are guaranteed to strengthen and enhance relationships and communication.
Gungor’s speaking is refreshingly free of psychological lingo. His topics Laugh Your Way and The Tale of Two Brains are about helping people get it right, get along, have fun, and achieve a successful relationship. Mark is CEO of Laugh Your Way America and the Senior Pastor of Celebration Church in Green Bay, Wisconsin. He speaks for civic events, large conferences, churches and business meetings. Recently he has had the unique opportunity to address soldiers returning from active duty.
Gungor has been featured in The Washington Times, on national broadcasts such as "Focus on the Family" and "ABC News." His daily radio program is heard on more than 250 radio stations nationwide and he has been featured in television specials broadcast throughout the world. He is the author of the bestselling book Laugh Your Way to a Better Marriage and the creator of a new television series, "Love, Marriage and Stinking Thinking." His new internet radio talk show debuted in the fall of 2008 to rave reviews.
Mark Gungor Video
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Thomas D. Currey, CLU, ChFC, LUTCF NAIFA President Elect
Sunday & Wednesday General Sessions
 Tom Currey is the owner of TDC Financial Services in Mansfield, Texas. His 30-year career in the financial-services industry provides him with a wide range of experience in selling, training and recruiting. Currey served as president of NAIFA-Great Southwest, receiving the Career Achievement Award in 1995, and as president and national committeeman of NAIFA-Texas. In 2002, he received the Texas Leaders Round Table Outstanding Achievement Award. He served as an original member and chairman of the NAIFA Leadership Development Task Force, as a member of the NAIFA Transformation Task Force and as chair of the NAIFA Committee on Associations.
As NAIFA trustee, he served as liaison to the Association Executives Council and APIC. Currey is a member of the Dallas and Fort Worth Estate Planning Councils, the Society of Financial Service Professionals (SFSP), the Golden Key Society and the Association of Health Insurance Advisors (AHIA). He is an IFAPAC Diplomat and a PIC contact. |
Jeffrey J. Taggart, CLU, ChFC, LUTCF
NAIFA Immediate Past President
Wednesday National Council Session
 Jeff Taggart continues a family tradition of serving his clients and NAIFA as a third generation NAIFA member. He has been in the insurance business for 29 years. Taggart has served as NAIFA trustee liaison to the National Membership Committee, the Associations Committee, the Leadership in Life Institute (LILI) and MIP Task Forces. He has chaired the Membership Committee twice and has served on the Community Service, Financial Institutions, NAIFA 2000 and Transformation Committees and Task Forces.
Taggart has been president of NAIFA-Wyoming and was named Agent of the Year in 1996. As state membership chair he earned the National Platinum Award twice. He was elected NAIFA secretary in September 2005 at the 116th Annual Convention and serve as NAIFA president in 2007-2008. |
