Wheaton, Ill., May 8, 2009—Sheila Morris, manager of inland marine for the American Association of Insurance Services (AAIS), has been chosen to receive a Distinguished Graduate Award from the Insurance Institute of America, Malvern, Pa.

Morris received the award for being the graduate with the highest cumulative grade average on examinations leading to the designation of Associate in Marine Insurance Management (AMIM). Earlier, Morris had earned the designation of Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter, and a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign.

Since 2003, Morris has developed and managed filings of inland marine programs for AAIS, a national advisory organization that develops standardized policy forms and rating information used by more than 600 property/casualty insurers throughout the U.S. Before coming to AAIS, Morris worked at Aon, where she rose from assistant product manager to assistant vice president for underwriting.

"Sheila's zeal for customer service, quality control, and organization has been an important reason AAIS’s Inland Marine Guide has been so successful," says Robert Guevara, AAIS vice president of inland marine. The Guide is an industry-leading resource of forms, rating procedures, underwriting guidelines, and other information for the traditionally nonfiled classes of inland marine insurance.

For information on AAIS inland marine programs, go to www.AAISonline.com, or contact Rick Maka, AAIS director of marketing, at rickm@AAISonline.com or by calling 800-564-AAIS.