The American Institute of Marine Underwriters (AIMU) has over 100 hundred years of service as the trade association
representing the United States ocean marine insurance industry as an advocate, educator and information center.

The award is co-sponsored by ICIC, AIMU, Inland Marine Underwriters Association,
​Marine Insurance and Claims Association, Association of Average Adjusters of the U.S. and Canada.

​2024 Award Winner

Nathan Ahart has nearly 14 years of experience in marine insurance. Prior to joining the industry, Nathan attended Bradley University in Peoria, IL, where he was a Captain of the Men’s Cross Country Team and President of the Gamma Iota Sigma chapter (a professional insurance, risk management and actuarial fraternity that has partnered with AIMU in the past). He subsequently graduated with a B.A. in Risk Management and Insurance and an M.B.A. (Master in Business Administration) from Bradley. ​

After graduating college, Nathan began his career in the Associate Program at Zurich American Insurance Co. This program provided practical experience in the fields of Risk Engineering, Underwriting and Claims. Upon completion of this program, Nathan relocated to New York City as a Marine Claims Adjuster. After four years with Zurich, Nathan was hired in 2014 at W.K. Webster as Assistant Manager in their Cargo Claims division. During his time working in their New York branch office, Nathan also traveled to W.K. Webster’s home office in Sidcup, U.K. for training and business development. In 2018 Nathan moved to RLI Insurance Co. as a Claim Director – Marine. Besides handling claims within all lines of marine insurance, he also leads a team of three marine claim adjusters located in New York and Illinois.

Within the marine insurance industry, Nathan has taken a leadership role within the American Marine Insurance Forum (AMIF), where he served as President in 2022 after six years on the board. He also has experience working with all of the organizations co-sponsoring this award (AIMU, MICA, IMUA and the Association of Average Adjusters). Nathan is an active instructor for AIMU, a member of MICA’s NextGen group as well as a former Associate member of the Association of Average Adjusters of the U.S. and Canada.​

​2020 Award Winner

The 2020 AIMU Award was won by Bing-Syin (Benson) Ye. Benson is a Marine Claims Supervisor at Mitsui Sumitomo Marine Management. He handles cargo, transit liability, hull, protection and indemnity, and recovery claims, and manages the subrogation team.

2019 Award Winner

The 2019 AIMU Award was won by Patrick McNamara (Marine Claims Adjustor, Starr Companies) and presented by Jonathan O'Hara (Senior Vice President, Marine, Energy & Construction Claims, Aspen Insurance and ICIC Committee Member) at the 2019 ICIC Conference. Patrick's essay was entitled 'The Issue of Legal Costs in Marine Claims Adjustment and Viability of Long-Term, Preferential Fee Agreements Between Underwriters and Law Firms'.

2018 Award Winner

The 2018 AIMU Award was won by Norman Tucker (Marine Claims Consultant, CNA) (pictured right) for his essay entitled Claim Management: An Adjustor's Perspective. At CNA Norman is responsible for handling cargo, hull, commodity, and marine liability claims. Norman is involved with providing ongoing training for the U.S. Marine Claims team. Norman joined CNA in 2009.         

2017 Award Winner

The AIMU Award was won in 2017 by Jacqueline Nolan (Claims Specialist, CNA) (pictured left - middle). Jacqueline participated on a panel debate with the 2017 W.E. Cox Claims Group Award Winner Mr. Alex O'Brien (Chubb) (pictured left). Jacqueline won the award for her written response to the question 'Describe the ideal qualifications and experience that the manager of a global marine claims department should possess and explain why'. 

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