Solomon Huebner

Although his Wharton doctoral thesis concerned foreign-trade aspects of marine insurance, Huebner invited life insurance managers to lecture to his early Wharton students. He quickly realized the urgent need for uniformity, fairness, and honesty in the industry. Huebner wrote pioneering texts on various types of insurance, including life, property and marine — always stressing honesty, professionalism, and the quest for expert knowledge. He established an insurance department at Wharton by 1913 where he taught until retiring in 1953. Huebner revolutionized the industry with qualifying exams and required accreditations for national industry standards, almost single-handedly instituting scruples that helped to propel sales to almost incomprehensible levels. He founded the American College of Life Underwriters in 1927 and the American Institute for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters in 1942. Huebner died in 1964.