Bennett J. Cooper, Esq., a consultant who has had a distinguished career in the insurance and financial services industry, will be the speaker for Millersville University’s winter commencement on Sunday, December 19. 

The ceremonies will be held at 2 p.m. in Pucillo Gymnasium.  Cooper’s address is titled, “Learn to Lead.” Approximately 400 people are expected to receive degrees, including 351 undergraduates and 49 graduate students. 

Cooper-a 1967 graduate of MU-is a tax attorney who has spent some 30 years in successfully managing and building profitable insurance operations.  During this time, he has established and expanded several brokerage agencies to levels of award-winning operations. 

Most recently, he was president of American General Life & Accident Insurance Company. Based in Nashville, Tenn., the company has some 5,000 agents and over a billion dollars of premium under management. 

Earlier in his career, he served as president of Branca-Rampart Financial Services, Inc., a regional broker/dealer, and was a senior consultant with Tillinghast-Towers Perrin, a firm specializing in distribution growth and effectiveness.  He also was senior vice president with the John Hancock Insurance Company, regional vice president at Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, and president and in-house attorney with North American Life Assurance Company.

Cooper was a member of the MU’s Capital Campaign Cabinet. The Foreign Language Faculty Suite in Millersville’s  renovated McComsey Hall is named in honor of his wife, Joanne, who graduated cum laude from the University in1967 with a major in French and a minor in Russian.

His professional memberships include the American Bar Association, the National Association of Life Underwriters, the International Association of Financial Planners, and the National Association of Security Dealers. 

In addition to being awarded a bachelor’s degree in history at MU, Cooper received the Guy Kurtz Bard Award as the outstanding senior in political science and history.  He earned his juris doctor degree at Temple University in 1971.