LINDA LAMEL

LAMEL--Linda H.

Linda H. Lamel, passed away peacefully on December 5th after a valiant, three-year struggle against thymic cancer. Raised in both Brooklyn and Queens, she became a proud Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Queens College, NYU, and Brooklyn Law School. She became a pioneer of the women's movement and a leader of the insurance industry, specializing in regulation, solvency, life and health insurance, corporate governance, compliance, claims adjudication, and executive compensation. She was New York State's first female Deputy Superintendent of Insurance and a founder of the National Organization for Women (NOW) on Long Island. As President and CEO of The College of Insurance, she helped launch the insurance industry careers of numerous proteges. She was the Campaign Manager and later Chief of Staff for Lieutenant Governor Mary Anne Krupsak. After government service, she worked in the insurance industry as a Vice President of TIAA-CREF, Executive Director of the Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS), CEO of Claims on Line, Inc. and as a consultant, trainer, and arbitrator. Ms. Lamel has served as a director of several insurance companies and most recently served on the board of Universal American Co. and American Progressive Insurance Co. and SCOR Reinsurance Co. Ms. Lamel held many leadership roles in industry and bar organizations, including having served as chair of the ABA Torts and Insurance Practice Section, Executive Committee of the NYSBA Insurance Section, Association of Professional Insurance Women, the Insurance and Risk Management Council of the American Management Association, chair of the Medical Malpractice Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Co-chair of the Insurance Law Committee of the New York County Lawyers Association, Founding Director of the American Society of Workers Comp Professionals, the Reinsurance Advisory Committee to Senator Biden of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, and member of the Presidential Council of AIDA-US. In 1988, Ms. Lamel was selected as the Insurance Woman of the Year by the Association of Professional Insurance Women and in 2000 was selected by Crain's Business Insurance as one of the 100 Women Industry Leaders. Over the past 10 years, Ms. Lamel taught as Adjunct Professor of Insurance Law at Brooklyn Law School and as Adjunct Professor of Economics at Queens College. Ms. Lamel also served in leadership roles for many non-profit organizations, including but not limited to Phi Beta Kappa Society, the League of Women Voters, Hour Children (Astoria), Boy Scouts of Greater New York, Queens College Business Advisory Council, and President of the Alumni Association for Brooklyn Law School. Ms. Lamel enjoyed theater, travel, beaches and chocolate. She is survived by her daughter, Diana Sands, her sisters Donna Weintraub and Eileen Hill, her brother Jerry Treppel, and her mother, Sylvia Treppel, as well as friends and colleagues who will miss her bright mind and warm heart. Contributions may be made in her honor to Hour Children, Inc. A memorial celebration for Ms. Lamel will be scheduled for the spring in New York City.