John Aschenbrenner, BA71, MS72, joined Principal in 1972 and has held a variety of executive-level positions in the organization's pension, individual retail, and group life and health businesses. Named to his current position in 2003, Aschenbrenner is responsible for overall management of the company’s life and health insurance businesses, generating approximately $275 million of annual operating earnings and includes Individual, Group, Medical and Supplemental Benefits divisions as well as distribution channels supporting each.

Aschenbrenner currently serves on the Board of Visitors of the Henry B. Tippie College of Business at The University of Iowa, and on the Board of Directors, United Way of Central Iowa, and is a Board Member of America’s Health Insurance Plans. He is the past chairman of the board of directors of the Iowa College Foundation and LIMRA International. He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries, the Actuaries Club of Des Moines, the National Coalition on Health Care, the LIMRA Leadership Institute Fellow (LLIF), and a Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU).

Kim Austen began his association with Allied in 1976 as a claims representative. He has held various management positions in underwriting and was named regional vice president of the Rocky Mountain Regional Office in 1990. He moved to the Lincoln Regional Office as regional vice president in 1992 and then to the Des Moines Regional Office in 1994. He was named senior vice president - product development in 2001. In 2003, Austen was appointed senior vice president-Commercial/Agribusiness Product & Pricing for the Property Casualty Insurance Operations at Nationwide, Allied's parent company. Austen was named president of Allied in 2006.

A graduate of the University of Nebraska, he received a B.S. degree in mathematics and economics, and holds the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter designation.

Austen is a board member of the Science Center of Iowa. He serves on the Leadership Cabinet of the American Red Cross, Central Iowa Chapter, the Executive Council of the Greater Des Moines Partnership, and is a member of the Iowa Business Council.

Loren Coppock, BBA70, has been the managing director of TrueNorth Companies, LC since 2000. He has also been a commercial underwriter, an agent, a broker with Merrill Lynch, as well as president and chairman of Davis Jones Lamb Insurance.

Coppock is a Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) and Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU).

His community activities include Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust, United Way of East Central Iowa, and Mt. Mercy College.

Steven Eginoire, BGS76, joined Lockton in 1987 and now serves as chairman and chief executive officer of Lockton Affinity. The firm provides a variety of insurance services to associations, franchises, and other buying groups around the world. Eginoire also serves on the board of Lockton International Holdings, which has insurance brokerage operations in more than 43 countries. Lockton Affinity and Lockton International are subsidiaries of Kansas City-based Lockton, Inc., the world’s largest privately held insurance brokerage and risk management firm with total revenues in excess of $800 million.

Ted Flores, BBA76, joined Griffith Laboratories in 1988 as corporate risk manager and was promoted to director–Global Risk Management in 2003. In this capacity, Ted oversees the structure and placement of the company’s worldwide insurance programs, directs the management of claims and litigation, and leads other risk management initiatives including crisis management/business continuity planning, supply chain risk management, property loss prevention, and health & safety. Ted is past chair of the Risk Management Section of the CPCU Society, has served as a director of the Chicago Chapter of RIMS, and as chair of the REBEX Conference held annually in Chicago.

Headquartered in Alsip, Ill., Griffith Laboratories, Inc. was founded in 1919. Griffith is a leading global creator and manufacturer of specialty food ingredients and blends for customers throughout the food industry. The company serves its customers from operations in 24 countries.

Megan McKay Ziller, BBA99, MBA05, is vice president of McKay Insurance Agency, Inc. in Knoxville, Iowa. She serves the insurance and risk management needs of clients both locally and nationally, in addition to overseeing the day-to-day operations of the agency. In 2003, she earned the Certified Insurance Counselor designation.

McKay Ziller is active in the Knoxville community, serving as chairperson of the Knoxville Economic Development Council, as treasurer of the Red Rock Arts Alliance, and as past president of the Knoxville Noon Kiwanis. She also serves as a trustee for Knoxville Hospital and Clinics.

Dana Ramundt, BBA74, is president and CEO of The Dana Company, an independent insurance agency he founded in Des Moines, Iowa, currently serving clients in 22 states. His career, with the exception of a two-year stint as regional vice president of a securities firm, has been in insurance agencies in Mason City and Des Moines, prior to starting The Dana Company in 1989.

Ramundt served his community as county campaign chairman and president of the Cerro Gordo County United Way and founder of a Crime Stoppers program in 1982. He has served the insurance industry as president of two county independent insurance agents’ associations and as president of the Independent Insurance Agents of Iowa, and most recently served on the board of the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America. He was on the board of trustees of Kaplan University for 19 years and is currently a board member of project InVEST, a national program for the introduction of the insurance industry to high school and college students. Ramundt initiated the re-establishment of the insurance program at the University of Iowa which has now evolved into the Vaughan Institute.

Michael Wilkins, BS85, MBA92, is senior vice president of United Fire Group. He is responsible for the development of the company’s information technology, including business applications, web applications, network infrastructure, and security procedures. He directs the reinsurance and personal lines segments.

Wilkins joined the company in 1985 as a computer programmer. From 1990 to 1996, he served as product support manager. In 1996, he was named regional underwriting manager of the Central Plains regional office. In 1998, he was named resident vice president of the Central Plains region. In 2002, he was named vice president of administration, and, in 2004, he was appointed senior vice president.

Wilkins has obtained the ARP and CPCU professional insurance designations. He is a member of the CPCU Society and serves on the board of directors of the Cedar Valley Chapter of the CPCU Society. He is also a member of the finance and administration committee of the United Way of East Central Iowa.

Therese Vaughan, BBA79, became the Chief Executive Officer of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) in February 2009. The NAIC is the organization of state insurance regulators for all 50 of the United States, Washington D.C., and five U.S. territories and serves a critical role in U.S. insurance regulation.

Prior to her current position, she was the Robb B. Kelley Distinguished Professor of Insurance and Actuarial Science at Drake University., She was the Iowa Insurance Commissioner from 1994 to 2004, the longest serving insurance commissioner in Iowa history, and was appointed to the position by governors of both major parties. During her term as insurance commissioner, Vaughan was an active member of the NAIC and served as its President in 2002.

Vaughan held previous academic positions at Baruch College of the City University of New York and at Temple University, and she was employed as a consultant in the risk management and casualty division of Tillinghast, A Towers Perrin Company.

She earned a Ph.D. in risk and insurance at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a CPCU, an associate of the Society of Actuaries, an associate of the Casualty Actuarial Society, and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries. She was previously a member of the board of directors of the Principal Financial Group, Endurance Specialty Holdings, the National Council on Compensation Insurance, and the Insurance Marketplace Standards Association.