PEMCO’s McNaughton elected chair of IIHS Board of Directors

Stan McNaughton, president and chief executive officer of PEMCO Mutual Insurance Company, has been elected chair of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s Board of Directors for 2022. McNaughton takes over from Dan Clapp, executive vice president at Shelter, who remains on the Board.

“I am honored to chair the Board for IIHS after partnering with this innovative organization for more than three decades,” McNaughton says. “Dan Clapp helped lead IIHS through the extraordinary task of navigating the COVID-19 pandemic, working with IIHS leadership to ensure the organization continued to fulfill its mission. I’m grateful for his leadership, and I’m excited to expand upon the strong foundation he and the IIHS team have built.”

PEMCO and IIHS have a long history beginning in 1991 when McNaughton, then a PEMCO executive, sustained a neck injury in a crash and wondered whether his vehicle’s low head restraint was partly to blame. Short head restraints were common at the time, but there was a lack of research on head restraint height.

PEMCO donated two Oldsmobile Cutlass Cieras to IIHS for the first rear crash tests. The tests showed that head restraints positioned no lower than the crash test dummy’s ears significantly reduced the whiplash effect. In the years that followed, IIHS began conducting static evaluations of head restraint geometry and later added sled testing of vehicle seats and head restraints to its ratings.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Stan as our Board chair,” says David Harkey, president of IIHS and HLDI. “Thanks to his long involvement with IIHS, Stan brings to this role a deep understanding of our mission, along with a wealth of knowledge about the insurance industry.”

The Board’s new chair-elect is Scott Ziegler, business leader at Progressive Insurance, and the vice chair is Kristina (Kriss) Barronton, vice president, auto product line, at USAA.

Other current IIHS Board members are:

• Neil Alldredge, president and chief executive officer, National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies
• Allen Anderson, senior vice president and chief underwriting officer, personal lines, Selective Insurance
• Michael Arnold, operations vice president, property and casualty claims, State Farm Insurance Companies
• Dan Clapp, executive vice president, Shelter Insurance Companies
• Cody Cook, senior vice president, claims, Erie Insurance Group
• Todd Davis, vice president, personal lines field product, Nationwide
• Brian Deephouse, vice president, membership and insurance product management, Auto Club Enterprises
• Ben Ewbank, personal auto product lead, The Hartford
• Daniel Halsey, president, personal lines, The Hanover Insurance Group
• David Harkey, president, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
• Jeffery Hay, chief underwriting officer, Donegal Insurance Group
• Jim Litherland, regional product manager, CHUBB
• Robert Lyon, president and chief executive officer, Rockingham Insurance
• James MacPhee, president, chief operating officer, Liberty Mutual Insurance
• Chris Malone, senior vice president and chief financial officer, NJM Insurance Group
• John McCaskill, senior vice president, property and casualty underwriting, American National
• Rob McDade, senior vice president of property casualty, COUNTRY Financial
• Ted Murphy, chief operations officer, Amica Mutual Insurance Company
• Tim Nee, chief operating officer, The Responsive Auto Insurance Company
• Holly Reston, senior executive, underwriting, North Carolina Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company
• Don Robinson, vice president, underwriting, product management and data science, GEICO Corporation
• David A. Sampson, president and chief executive officer, American Property Casualty Insurance Association
• Duane Sanders, executive vice president and president, property and casualty division, Kemper Corporation
• James Sutton, head of auto product, Farmers Insurance Group
• Todd Walker, chief actuary, CSAA Insurance Group
• Bill Westrate, president and chief executive officer, American Family Insurance
• Andrew Woods, vice president, personal lines – research and development, The Travelers Companies, Inc.
• Floyd M. Yager, senior vice president, product and experience design, Allstate Insurance Company