The annual award honors the recipient’s contributions to the Massachusetts insurance industry
Francis ‘Frank” X. Bellotti has been nominated as the 2013 Insurance Professional of the Year by the Insurance Library Association of Boston. Mr. Bellotti is currently the Vice Chairman of the Arbella Insurance Group and Of Counsel at the Boston law firm Mintz Levin.
The Insurance Professional of the Year Award, established in 2002 by the Richard Simches Fund, is presented each year to “…a person who demonstrates leadership and exemplifies those qualities that engender understanding of and respect for the insurance industry.” The selection process is conducted by a cross-section of the insurance industry and as such carries with it that added significance. This year’s award will be presented on October 18, 2013 at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel during the Association’s Annual Insurance Professional of the Year Award Ceremony.
“As so often is the case, it was a very tough decision to make,” explained Insurance Librarian Sarah Hart in the Library’s announcement. “There were a number of excellent nominations made in response to our last newsletter,” added Hart. Ultimately, the Insurance Library chose to honor Mr. Bellotti for his legal and political career in the Massachusetts insurance industry which spans nearly 40 years.
Bellotti first entered public life in 1962 when he was elected as the Lieutenant Governor of the Commonwealth. From 1975 until 1987, he served three terms as the Attorney General of Massachusetts, in which he revolutionized the running of the Office of the Attorney General making it a model for both local and national prosecutors.
As a result of his work as Attorney General, the National Association of Attorney Generals twice honored Mr. Bellotti. In 1981, he received the Louis C. Wyman award from the Association as the most outstanding attorney general in the United States of the year. Earlier this year, the Association again honored him with its President’s Lifetime Achievement Award for his lifelong service and commitment to the attorney general community. In 2001, the NAAG also established the Francis X. Bellotti Award, an annual award presented to a member of the Society of Attorney General Emeriti whose work has furthered the Association’s vision and mission.
Other accolades that Mr. Bellotti over the course of his career include honorary law degrees from the New England School of Law and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. In 1992, the Social Law Library created the Francis X. Bellotti Endowment for Special Acquisitions in his honor. Last year, the District Court of East Norfolk in Quincy became the Francis X. Bellotti Courthouse.
A U.S. Navy veteran of World War II, Mr. Bellotti is a 1947 graduate of Tufts University and the father of twelve children. He received his law degree from Boston College in 1952.
Arbella, the first mutual company to enter Massachusetts in 50 years
Aside from Mr. Bellotti’s impressive contributions to the law, he has also made equally significant contributions to the Massachusetts insurance industry. In 1988 when the Kemper Insurance Group announced that it would be withdrawing from the Massachusetts auto insurance marketplace, Mr. Bellotti was instrumental in filling the void that this would create by helping to pass legislation which allowed for the legal formation of what is now the Arbella Insurance Group.
Under Bellotti’s stewardship, Arbella Mutual Insurance became the first mutual insurance company in 50 years to enter the Massachusetts marketplace. Since that time, the Quincy-based insurer has grown to become one of the top five insurance companies in the Commonwealth. In 2012, the company announced that it had earned more than $725 million in premium for the first time in its history.
“Arbella Insurance is honored to have our founder chosen as Insurance Person of the Year,” said John Donohue, chairman, president and CEO of Arbella Insurance Group. “Frank is a champion of the rights of the citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and has dedicated his career to protecting them through fair insurance and just law. We congratulate him on this well-deserved award.”
