NAIFA member Gary T. “Doc” Huffman, CLU, ChFC, was recently elected to the position of chairman of the Board of Ohio National Boards of Directors. This is in addition to his current titles of president and CEO.

Huffman succeeds David B. O’Maley, CLU, ChFC, MSFS, who had continued as executive chairman of the Board upon his November 2010 retirement as president and CEO after more than 17 years with the enterprise. As the newly elected chairman, Huffman leads the Boards of Directors of Ohio National Mutual Holdings, Inc., Ohio National Financial Services, Inc., and The Ohio National Life Insurance Company.

“I am very proud to lead the Board of this exceptional company,” Huffman notes. “Ohio National has benefited enormously from David’s visionary leadership and strategic focus over the past two decades. Ohio National is now an acknowledged leader in the industry, both in terms of its financial strength and performance and its highly competitive, high consumer value product portfolio.”

“Our mutual heritage and disciplined financial and investment management have served our policyholders well, despite the headwinds of a protracted low interest rate environment and volatile marketplace,” Huffman adds.“ We are extremely well capitalized and positioned for continued success."

“Our view must always be to the future, and the seamless transition of Board and executive leadership is critical to our associates and our policyholders,” says O’Maley. “I have been honored to serve as chairman of our Board since 1994, and I have been both humbled and proud of the success that Ohio National has enjoyed. There is no person more qualified to now lead our Board than Doc Huffman.”

Huffman joined Ohio National in August 2008 as vice chairman, Distribution, and advanced to vice chairman and COO in November 2009. He began his career as a general agent with Mass Mutual Insurance Company in 1975. He advanced to the headquarters operation and was elected as senior vice president of Marketing in 1998. He joined Union Central Life Insurance in 1999 as senior vice president, Individual Insurance, and became president and CEO in 2007 and chairman, president and CEO in 2008.

Active in the industry and community, Huffman currently serves on the boards of The American College, the Dan Beard Council, Boy Scouts of America, the Cincinnati Opera, Cincinnati Children’s Foundation, the United Way of Greater Cincinnati and Maple Knoll. He is a former chairman of the Life Insurance Marketing and Research Association and is a Life member of the MDRT. A Kentucky native, Huffman is a graduate of the University of Kentucky. He and his wife, Milly (Donelson) Huffman, have three adult daughters.

Tracing its corporate origins to 1909, Ohio National today markets a variety of insurance and financial products through more than 50,000 representatives in 47 states (all except Alaska, Hawaii and New York), the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and through subsidiary operations in Santiago, Chile.