The life insurance industry’s highest honor will be presented at the NAIFA Career Conference and Annual Meeting in September as a tribute to his more than 40 years of service and contributions to the industry.

The National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA) is proud to announce Brian H. Ashe, CLU, president of Brian Ashe and Associates of Lisle, Ill., and an AXA Advisor, as the recipient of the 71st annual John Newton Russell Memorial Award. The award is the highest honor accorded by the insurance industry to a living individual who has rendered outstanding services to the institution of life insurance.

Mr. Ashe will receive the award September 11, 2012, at the NAIFA Career Conference and Annual Meeting in Las Vegas.

“The committee evaluated many strong nominees this year, and I am pleased that Brian is our selection as the 2012 John Newton Russell Memorial Award recipient,” said Cliff F. Wilson, CLU, ChFC, LUTCF, CLF, chair of the 2012 John Newton Russell Award Committee. “It is fitting that he should join this very prestigious group of individuals at the pinnacle of their profession who have demonstrated exemplary service to the institution of life insurance and related financial services.”

Mr. Ashe is a past president of the Million Dollar Round Table, which he first joined in 1972. He holds 14 Court of the Table and Top of the Table honors with MDRT, has served on 34 MDRT committees and is a Platinum-Level Knight of the MDRT Foundation.

In 2001, Mr. Ashe joined the LIFE Foundation board and two years later was selected to join its Executive Committee. He was elected in 2005 to serve as Chairman of the Board until his term expired in 2006. He currently serves as LIFE’s treasurer and as a spokesperson for the organization.

Mr. Ashe has addressed audiences in 38 states and 14 countries on behalf of the life insurance industry, promoting high ethical standards, education and successful sales practices. He has been interviewed by prominent media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Money magazine, the Chicago Tribune and the Dallas Morning News. His columns have frequently appeared in NAIFA’s Advisor Today magazine. He has been a NAIFA member for 40 years and served in local and state leadership positions.

“Brian’s leadership within NAIFA, the LIFE Foundation and MDRT has served to strengthen our industry and provides an excellent example for other insurance and financial professionals,” said NAIFA President Robert Miller. “Whether he is speaking, giving media interviews or writing about our industry, Brian is truly the type of ambassador the John Newton Russell Memorial Award is meant to recognize.”

John Henry Russell created the John Newton Russell Award in 1942 as a tribute to his father, an influential leader in the life insurance industry and an early advocate of agent education. John Newton Russell served as NAIFA (then NALU) president from 1916 to 1917 and was a contributing founder of LIMRA International, The American College and the Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) designation.