Adam C. Pozek, QPA®, QKC®, QKA®, CPFA® was announced as the recipient of the 2023 Thomas J. Finnegan III Educator of the Year Award. The announcement was made on Oct. 23 at the ASPPA Annual Conference at National Harbor, MD. 
Pozek “dedicates a great amount of time to educating not only staff in his own firm, but also to educating the entire industry,” said Robert Kaplan, Director of Technical Education for the American Retirement Association. He added that Pozek “has proven himself to be a strong leader and advocate for education.”
Pozek has offered some remarks on winning the award:
It is huge honor for me to receive this award, especially considered the company I share. However, it is that much more of an honor to receive it in the year it was first named in Tom’s memory. Tom is certainly an icon in this organization and industry, but he was also a mentor and a friend.
In receiving this award, I have to acknowledge Cynthia Groskiewicz. When I first got involved with the ASPPA Benefits Council of Atlanta in the mid to late ’90s, Cynthia would routinely be the attendee in the room who was ask speakers the difficult, probing questions. The first time I was invited to present at one of the Atlanta ABC workshops, I knew I had to be well-enough prepared that I could answer any question Cynthia might throw at me. That drive to always be prepared, even when I knew Cynthia wouldn’t be in the room, has followed me every time I have presented. Thank you, Cynthia, for instilling that in me even though you didn’t realize you were doing it.
Award Renamed
The Thomas J. Finnegan III Educator of the Year Award had been known as the Educator’s Award since the days when it was established in 1997. However, the award was renamed in 2023 in honor of the late Thomas J. Finnegan III Award to honor his memory.
Tom Finnegan, who passed away earlier this year, was the first American Retirement Association President; he also served as president of both ASPPA and the ASPPA College of Pension Actuaries (ACOPA), now the American Society of Enrolled Actuaries (ASEA). He was a recipient of ASPPA’s Educator of the Year Award and in 2022 was awarded ASPPA’s Harry T. Eidson Founders Award named after ASPPA's first president, Harry T. Eidson. Finnegan also was a recipient of the ASPPA Educators Award, as well as the 2020 recipient of the Edward E. Burrows Distinguished Achievement Award.
“The great victory with the Pension Protection Act would not have happened without his help,” said ARA CEO Brian Graff in announcing the renaming of the award. “Tom was the perfect actuary to be ARA’s first leader,” he added.
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