Endowed scholarship honors insurance firm's first chief executive officer

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Dolly Omiya, (808) 956-5645
Public Information Officer, College of Business-External Relations Office
Posted: Oct 3, 2014

Shidler Dean Vance Roley, Robert L. Dove Jr. and HEMIC CEO Martin J. Welch.
Shidler Dean Vance Roley, Robert L. Dove Jr. and HEMIC CEO Martin J. Welch.

Hawaii Employers’ Mutual Insurance Co. (HEMIC) is honoring its first CEO, Robert L. Dove Jr., by funding an endowed scholarship with a $230,000 gift.

The Robert L. Dove Jr. Endowed Scholarship for Insurance Excellence, sponsored by HEMIC, will provide four-year renewable scholarships to incoming UHM freshmen who are graduates of a Hawai‘i high school and who are pursuing business degrees at the Shidler College of Business. A preference will be given to students who express an interest in finance, with a concentration in insurance and risk management.

Dove was hired as HEMIC’s first CEO in 1997. He led the formation and growth of the company from an idea with no funding, to what is today a model provider of workers’ compensation insurance. In 2012, he retired as CEO but continued to serve the company as a director until this month.

Said current HEMIC CEO Martin J. Welch, “Throughout his 40 plus year career, Bob was a strong advocate for insurance education and professionalism, supporting both local education and industry specific training and development curriculums.  We are honored to recognize his many contributions to the workers’ compensation industry by supporting future business leaders in this meaningful way.”

HEMIC is Hawai‘i’s largest workers’ compensation insurer, reporting annual revenue of nearly $50 million in 2013. HEMIC serves over 6,000 Hawai‘i business owners, and employs more than 70 employees.

“We are grateful to have HEMIC as a corporate partner in our efforts to recruit and retain the best and brightest Hawai‘i high school graduates to remain in Hawai‘i and still receive a high-quality business education,” said Shidler Dean Vance Roley. “Thanks to HEMIC and its business and community leadership, our Freshmen Direct Admit Program is empowered with a meritorious scholarship that will attract promising business students for many years to come.”

For more information, visit: http://shidler.hawaii.edu/