Award-winner says insurance remains 'more a man's world'.

Marsha Cohen, Who says women are making strides in achieving senior executive-level positions in the industry, has been chosen as the 2005 "Insurance Woman of the Year" by the Association of Professional Insurance Women.

Cohen, senior vice president of state relations and director of education for the Reinsurance Association of America, based in Washington, D.C, was selected for the honor in recognition of her contributions to the insurance industry, her leadership and her professional achievements.

Despite women's progress, the industry still is considered to be "more of a man's world than a woman's world," Cohen said, adding that the APIW is among the creators of the "old girls network."

"You see the opportunities; there are women who have obtained the very high levels in the insurance and reinsurance industries, but there is still a way to go," she said. At the RAA, Cohen is responsible for representing the reinsurance underwriting members' concerns before state regulatory and legislative bodies throughout the United States, as well as becoming a key provider of reinsurance education to regulators and the industry, the RAA said.

Cohen began her insurance career with First State Insurance Co. in Boston as a claims assistant. In 1977, she joined New England Reinsurance Corp. as a treaty analyst. In 1979, Cohen joined the staff of Royal Re American Holdings Inc., American Royal Reinsurance Co. and American Royal Re Management Corp. as assistant secretary. By the time she left Royal Re/American Royal Re in 1992 to join the RAA, Cohen had risen to assistant vice president and corporate secretary.

The APIW 2005 Woman of the Year reception is scheduled for June 8 at the New York Marriott Marquis in NewYork.