Ten Years of Hold and The National Alliance making a difference

From left to right: William J. Hold, Dr. William T. Hold (with national-championship trophy) and Dean Michael Hartline

On a night of celebration, Dr. William T. Hold paused in reflection.

"It's amazing to me," Hold, co-founder, executive chairman and retired president of The National Alliance for Insurance Education and Research, said to professional and academic associates in the Grand Ballroom of the FSU Alumni Center. 

I sit and wonder, 'How did this ever happen?'"

Of course, he knew how. The Dr. William T. Hold/The National Alliance Program in Risk Management and Insurance became the No. 1-ranked program in the country largely through the contributions of Hold, staff and board members of The National Alliance and through leaders, faculty, staff, students and alumni of the Florida State University College of Business.

Hold spoke to representatives of those groups last week during the 10th anniversary dinner and celebration of the naming of the program after him and the organization that he launched more than five decades ago. 

The anniversary celebration coincided with the program's recent No. 1 ranking from U.S. News & World Report – an accomplishment that inspired a national-championship theme throughout the evening. 

"Tonight, we finally get to rush the field to tear down the goalposts," Dean Michael Hartline said during his introductory remarks. Minutes later, Hartline presented a national-championship trophy to the guests of honor: Dr. Hold (BS RMI '63), who also holds an honorary doctorate from FSU, and William J. Hold (MBA '08), who succeeded his father as president of The National Alliance.

The No. 1 ranking also marked for Dr. Hold a sense of reinforced validation from a decade ago when he persuaded board members of his Texas-based organization to make a significant investment in the RMI program at FSU, some 900 miles away. Hold said the university and College of Business gave him his start – and a break he never forgot – more than 60 years ago.

"Thank God we were able to do it," Hold said about the building of the program to preeminent status. "And thank God for each of you."

FSU President Richard McCullough hailed the Holds and The National Alliance for their "vision, dedication and investment in our great students and faculty and this great university." 

"We have much to celebrate tonight," he said, noting that the Dr. William T. Hold/The National Alliance Program in Risk Management and Insurance enhances FSU and "elevates the College of Business as it strives for preeminence."

The college boasts Top 10 and Top 25 rankings in virtually all its undergraduate programs and in several graduate programs. 

The accomplishments of the named RMI program shows the college what is possible, Hartline said. And like Hold, the dean took the opportunity to reflect on the crowning achievement.

"Ask any national-championship team, and they'll tell you what it took to get them to the top," he said. "It took a team of talented, determined and dedicated people who refused to settle for less. It took time, excellence and persistence. And it took a visionary leader who pointed the way."

Precisely 10 years ago, Dr. Hold and The National Alliance invested $5 million in the college to further build an already highly ranked RMI program. 

The investment established a unique connection between Austin, Texas, where The National Alliance is based, and Tallahassee, Florida, and a special relationship between FSU and the professional group. Both institutions carry a shared passion for educating people on risk management for the better of students, industry and society.

The spirit of the relationship resonated at last week's event, including in a series of toasts from representatives of the college and The National Alliance.

"There's no question that great value was created through this partnership," William J. Hold said. "And truly in my opinion, hopefully the greatest value is the students who are in this room today, where they can carry on this legacy, where they can be part of this next generation coming into the workforce." 

Judy Wieland, an RMI student and Seneff Honors Program scholar, benefited from The National Alliance's support, including an internship early in the pandemic, after her original internship had been canceled. 

"I realize how instrumental the support of Dr. Hold and The National Alliance has been on my college career, and I am incredibly thankful," Wieland said during the celebration event. "Your support is so much more than a one-time monetary donation; it's a relationship that has and will continue to develop students like me and provide them with all the tools necessary to succeed."

The Dr. Hold/The National Alliance investment sparked a decade of accomplishments, including stronger faculty research that now boasts the No. 1 (Dr. Kathleen McCullough), No. 2 (Dr. Cassandra Cole) and No. 7 (Dr. Patricia Born) most prolific scholars in leading risk management journals. The college also offers an online RMI master's degree ranked No. 11 among public schools, and it received the Global Centers for Insurance Excellence designation for high standards in course offerings, graduate studies, industry employment and professional involvement. The investment also launched the Intercollegiate Insurance Sales Challenge, the only event of its kind; established the Dr. William T. Hold Scholarship Program for master's students; and created the Dr. William T. Hold Professorship in Risk Management and Insurance for a highly productive scholar, now held by Cole, the MS-RMI program director and chair of the Department of Risk Management/Insurance, Real Estate and Legal Studies.

Those stand among myriad accomplishments that have benefited students, faculty members, the insurance industry and society.

Because of the Dr. Hold/The National Alliance investment, faculty and staff members can focus more on their students – for generations to come, said Kathleen McCullough, the associate dean for academic affairs and the Kathryn Magee Kip Professor in Risk Management and Insurance.

"We will be able to hopefully change the lives of these students and create the next generation of industry leaders that will transform the industry and will protect businesses, families and organizations from the adverse impact of risk," she told attendees. "And most importantly, if we do our jobs right, this will ensure that we can change lives the way FSU changed Dr. Hold's life."

McCullough and Dr. Hold shared his story of arriving in Tallahassee as a young man in the late 1950s with nothing but a small suitcase and a big drive to make it on his own. So eager was he to succeed that he started a dry-cleaning business and called it Bill's Dry Cleaning.

He decided to take a couple of insurance courses at the FSU College of Business and caught the attention of Ray Solomon, a faculty member who would become dean. Solomon, who died in 2019, offered Hold a $450 scholarship and later helped him get a fellowship at the University of Wisconsin. 

"Somebody reached out and said, 'We think maybe he has some potential. He has the grades, and he works hard, and we're going to give you an opportunity,' just because they cared about a student, and that never left me," Hold recalled. "Somebody with just a little bit of kindness and a little bit of caring made a huge difference in my life and resulted in all of this, with the help of an enormous number of people, including everybody in this room."

Dr. Hold would earn his bachelor's degree from FSU, his master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Wisconsin and a 2012 induction into the FSU College of Business Alumni Hall of Fame. Last year, FSU awarded him an honorary doctorate degree, prompting a playful new honorific at last week's event: "Dr. Dr. Hold" – a man who looms larger than life to so many.

"Bill's not one of these guys who says, 'Here's a check. See ya,'" said Ted Ostrander (BS Business Administration '70), a college Alumni Hall of Fame member and the chair of the RMI Executive Committee. Ostrander spoke about ways in which Dr. Hold and The National Alliance have helped alumni.

"Bill's going to say, 'Here's a check, and I'm going to be right there to make sure you're going to do what you say you're going to do' … because education is his passion," Ostrander said. "He has instilled that in this school, with these students, with this faculty, with everyone. His motivation is to make this (program) the best." 

"And guess what?" he added, looking at Dr. Hold in the audience. "You're No. 1."

That's hardly the most important thing, Dr. Hold told attendees.

"When it's all over, they're not going to count how much money we had," he said. "They're going say, 'Did you ever make a difference in anybody's life?' And we can say we truly, all of us, that we have made a difference in people's lives, and that's the best thing ever."

-- Pete Reinwald