View this article online: https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2005/02/04/50803.htm
Former insurance studies research fellow and strategic public affairs counsel, Robert Detlefsen, Ph.D., has joined the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) as director of public policy.
Detlefsen will develop and direct public policy, communication and media relations strategies in support of NAMIC strategic objectives. He will conduct public policy research and analysis, and coordinate the development of NAMIC’s issue agenda and advocacy campaigns.
“Bob brings a successful policy research and public affairs background to NAMIC,” said Roger H. Schmelzer, senior vice president-state and regulatory affairs department. “He comes to NAMIC well-equipped for this position, having served as a research fellow specializing in insurance studies at both Citizens for a Sound Economy and the Competitive Enterprise Institute. He has also worked as a strategic public affairs consultant at Powell Tate, a major public affairs firm in Washington D.C.”
“NAMIC’s strategy is to fully integrate public policy, media and advocacy processes to execute a more message-driven advocacy and external communications strategy designed to shape the regulatory environment in which our member companies operate,” Schmelzer said. “Bob Detlefsen is uniquely qualified to lead that effort.”
Detlefsen’s analyses and commentaries have appeared in specialized insurance publications such as the Journal of Insurance Regulation, the Risk Management and Insurance Review, National Underwriter, and Best’s Review. His articles and reviews have also been published in the Washington Post, Washington Times, Houston Chronicle, Journal of Commerce, National Review, New Republic, and Reason. He is the author of a book, Civil Rights Under Reagan (ICS Press, 1991), and has testified on several occasions before state legislative committees and regulatory bodies.
Detlefsen holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, Berkeley, and has taught courses in American government, constitutional law, and political theory at several colleges and universities. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Massachusetts. Prior to joining NAMIC, Detlefsen ran his own Northern Virginia public policy consulting firm.
Detlefsen authored two of NAMIC’s most recent public policy papers: The Case for Underwriting Freedom: How Competitive Risk Analysis Promotes Fairness and Efficiency in Property/Casualty Insurance Markets and The Legal Theory of Disparate Impact Does Not Apply to the Regulation of Credit-Based Insurance Scoring.