UNIVERSITY, Miss. - Insurance executive Donald J. Hurzeler talks about the business and his profession when he delivers the Nov.1 Otho Smith Lecture at the University of Mississippi.

Sponsored by the UM School of Business Administration, the address is set for 11 a.m. in room 111 of Conner Hall.

Hurzeler is president and CEO of Zurich Middle Markets, a unit of Zurich North America and a division of Zurich Financial Services Group in Switzerland. The parent company operates in more than 60 countries, employs 70,000 people and has $56 billion in annual revenue.

Major subsidiaries of Zurich North America are Zurich U.S., Farmers Insurance Group and Zurich Life. The Middle Markets unit is based in Schaumburg, Ill.

Hurzeler's company "specializes in commercial property and liability insurance for medium-sized companies, a growing market in the South and one in which we particularly want our graduates to participate," said Larry Cox, associate professor and holder of UM's Robertson Chair of Insurance.

He described the speaker as "a people person who has fashioned a diverse, yet cohesive and effective, management team ... 100 percent a leader, both in his company and in the entire insurance profession."

"Our insurance and risk management students are lucky to get to hear his message," Cox said.

Before becoming CEO of Zurich Middle Markets, Hurzeler was chief underwriting officer of Zurich U.S. Prior to joining Zurich, he was first vice president for Reliance National Insurance in New York. The first 27 years of his career, he was with Allstate Insurance and its commercial company, Northbrook Property and Casualty.

Hurzeler has been a columnist for Best's Review magazine and the Barrington Courier-Review newspaper. A frequent speaker at industry functions, he is the new president-elect of the CPCU (Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter) Society. He also is on the board of directors of the American Nuclear Insurers.

With a BBA degree from Chapman College, he holds CPCU and CLU (Chartered Life Underwriter) designations.

The Otho Smith Lecture Series, initiated in 1981 through a grant from the Phil B. Hardin Foundation, brings prominent business executives to the UM campus as guest speakers. It is named for the late Meridian businessman, philanthropist and former president of the UM Alumni Association.

For more information or assistance related to a disability, contact the UM business school at 662-915-5820.