insurance, is celebrating 55 years with one of America's most successful organisations.

American International Underwriters was a small operation when Mr. Stempel went to work in its New York office in 1938 as an assistant underwriter.

After gaining experience in several areas of the business, from claims to reinsurance, he left AIU to join the US Navy during World War II, serving in the Aleutian Islands, the Philippines, Japan and Okinawa.

Mr. Stempel rejoined the company in 1945 and attended law school at night, eventually earning a Masters degree in law and a doctorate in juridical science from New York University.

In 1950, he became corporate secretary of AIU.

Mr. Stempel was sent to Bermuda in 1953 to run the non-life division of American International Reinsurance Company (AIRCO).

He became president of AIRCO in 1963 with responsibility for both life and non-life operations.

He became AIG executive vice president/life insurance when AIRCO merged with AIG in 1978 and AIG vice chairman/life insurance in 1989.

Today, in this latter position, he oversees the company's worldwide life operations and also serves as chairman of Philippine American Life insurance Company (Philamlife) and Hong Kong-based American International Assurance Company.

Mr. Stempel said that he had planned a legal, not insurance, career, when he initially joined American International.

"However, when I returned from the war the company had expanded into many new areas, such as Latin America, and the prospects for continued expansion looked very bright,'' he said.

After 55 years, he said that AIG was "even more attractive''. "It's a much bigger company today but efforts are made to run it like a family business and, for the most part, this is successful,'' he said.

"This gives AIG much more of a collegial atmosphere than most other large, global companies.'' MR. ERNEST STEMPEL.