Diane Koken | |
---|---|
Born | M. Diane Koken |
Nationality | American |
Occupation(s) | Legal and regulatory consultant and court-appointed special advocate for children (CASA) |
Known for | Insurance Commissioner of the Pennsylvania Department of Insurance (1997-1998) |
M. Diane Koken is an American legal and regulatory consultant who serves as a court-appointed special advocate for children (CASA) in Pennsylvania. [1]
She is also a former Insurance Commissioner of the Pennsylvania Department of Insurance, [2] and currently serves on the boards of multiple organizations across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Koken graduated from Penn Manor High School, was subsequently awarded a bachelor’s degree from Millersville University of Pennsylvania, magna cum laude in 1972, and a Juris Doctor degree from the Charles Widger School of Law at Villanova University in 1975. [3] [4] [5] [6]
She then began her insurance industry career with the Provident Mutual Life Insurance Company of Philadelphia, ultimately working her way up to become vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary. [7] [8] [9]
Koken served as the Insurance Commissioner of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania from 1997 to 2007. She was appointed acting commissioner by Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge in July 2007 and was then confirmed by the Pennsylvania State Senate as commissioner later that same year. During her decade-long tenure, in which she subsequently served under Pennsylvania governors Mark Schweiker and Ed Rendell, and became the second longest-serving insurance commissioner in the state's history (as of 2007), the agency undertook seven thousand field investigations and market-conduct examinations, which resulted in three hundred and seventeen million dollars in civil penalty restitutions and more than sixty-nine million dollars in restitutions paid to consumers who filed insurance-related complaints. In addition, the agency established a consumer liaison unit, significantly increased the number of children enrolled in the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), created a basic health insurance program for low-income adults, and implemented the Mcare malpractice insurance abatement program. [10] [11]
In 2007, Koken was elected to the board of directors of the Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. [12]
In 2019, she was elected to the boards of directors of the Nationwide Mutual Funds and the Nationwide Variable Insurance Trusts. [13]
Previously appointed as the first chair of the Interstate Insurance Product Regulation Commission, she also served as vice chair of the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims and as president of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. [14] During her tenure with the Holocaust Era Insurance Claims commission, more than fifteen hundred Holocaust victims and their families were assisted with filing insurance claims for property that had been plundered by Nazis during World War II. [15]
A member of the Women’s Council of the United Way, she also currently serves on the boards of directors of Capital Blue Cross, The Hershey Company, the Hershey Trust Company, The M.S. Hershey Foundation, and the Milton Hershey School. [16] Appointed to the Milton Hershey School's board in 2016, she has served as the board's chair since 2021. [17]
The Hershey Company, commonly known as Hershey's, is an American multinational company and one of the largest chocolate manufacturers in the world. It also manufactures baked products, such as cookies and cakes, and sells beverages like milkshakes, as well as other products. Its headquarters are in Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States, which is also home to Hersheypark and Hershey's Chocolate World. It was founded by Milton S. Hershey in 1894 as the Hershey Chocolate Company, which is a subsidiary of his Lancaster Caramel Company. The Hershey Trust Company owns a minority stake but retains a majority of the voting power within the company.
Milton Snavely Hershey was an American chocolatier, businessman, and philanthropist.
Dauphin County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 286,401. The county seat and the largest city is Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's state capital and ninth largest city. The county was created on March 4, 1785, from part of Lancaster County and was named after Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France, the first son of King Louis XVI.
The Milton Hershey School, formerly the Hershey Industrial School, is a private boarding school in Hershey, Pennsylvania for K–12 students. The institution was founded in 1909 by chocolate industrialist Milton Hershey and his wife, Catherine Hershey.
Hershey is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Derry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is home to The Hershey Company, which was founded by candy magnate Milton S. Hershey.
Giant Center is a 10,500-seat multi-purpose arena in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a census-designated place in the Harrisburg metropolitan area. It is home to the Hershey Bears ice hockey team, the longest-existing member of the American Hockey League since 1938. Giant Center replaced the Hersheypark Arena as the Bears' home venue in 2002.
WITF-TV is a non-commercial television station in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States, a member station of PBS serving the Susquehanna Valley region (Harrisburg–Lancaster–Lebanon–York). It is owned by WITF, Inc., alongside the area's NPR member, WITF-FM (89.5). Both stations share studios at the WITF Public Media Center in Swatara Township, while WITF-TV's transmitter is located in Middle Paxton Township, next to the transmitter of CBS affiliate WHP-TV. WITF's programming is relayed on low-power digital translator station W20EU-D in Chambersburg.
Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company is a privately held corporation based in Pennsylvania. Milton S. Hershey established HE&R in 1927 to distinguish and separate his chocolate manufacturing company from his other business ventures. All of his non-chocolate producing businesses were established as Hershey Estates, renamed HERCO, Inc. in 1976 and Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company in 1998.
On October 2, 2006, a shooting occurred at the West Nickel Mines School, an Amish one-room schoolhouse in the Old Order Amish community of Nickel Mines, a village in Bart Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Gunman Charles Carl Roberts IV took hostages and shot ten girls, killing five, before committing suicide in the schoolhouse. The emphasis on forgiveness and reconciliation in the Amish community's response was widely discussed by the national media. The West Nickel Mines School was later demolished, and a new one-room schoolhouse, the New Hope School, was built at another location.
Hershey Creamery Company, also known as Hershey's Ice Cream, is an American creamery that produces ice cream, sorbet, sherbet, frozen yogurt, and other frozen desserts such as smoothies and frozen slab-style ice cream mixers. It was founded by Jacob Hershey and four of his brothers in 1894 and taken over by the Holder family in the 1920s. The company was one of the first to offer consumers pre-packaged ice cream pints.
The Milton S. Hershey Mansion, also known as High Point, is a historic house at 100 Mansion Road East in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Built in 1908, it was the home of Hershey Chocolate founder Milton S. Hershey (1857-1945) from 1908 until his death. Hershey is credited with introducing the mass production of chocolate to be sold at low prices and operated what became the world's largest chocolate maker. His house was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1983. It presently houses the offices of the Hershey Trust Company, a multibillion-dollar trust fund which owns a controlling share of Hershey Foods Corporation and runs the Milton Hershey School.
Tina L. Pickett is a Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives who was elected in 2000 to represent the 110th District, which includes Bradford (part) and Wyoming counties. During the 2021-22 legislative session, Pickett served as majority chairman of the House Insurance Committee, which oversees general insurance company operations; homeowners, life, health and automobile insurance; the Children’s Health Insurance Program; and agent and broker licensing, among other duties. She was also a member of the House Committee on Committees, Consumer Affairs Committee and Rules Committee. Pickett served as a Bradford County commissioner from 1996 to 2000. Her legislative service also includes chairmanship of the House Gaming Oversight Committee, and as a member of the House Appropriations, Transportation and Agricultural and Rural Affairs committees. Her tenure in the House includes a total of 12 bills becoming law.
Kim L. Ward is an American politician who served as acting lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania and currently serves as President pro tempore of the Pennsylvania Senate. She represents the 39th Senatorial District which covers the central portions of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. Following the resignation of Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman, Ward became acting lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania on January 3, 2023, and served until January 17, 2023. She is the first female president pro tempore of the Pennsylvania Senate. She was succeeded by Austin Davis as Lieutenant Governor.
LeRoy S. Zimmerman is a former Pennsylvania Attorney General.
John H. Estey is a now-disbarred attorney who served as chief of staff to Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell from 2003 until 2007. He served as interim president of the Milton Hershey School for the 2013–2014 school year and currently serves as executive vice president – administration at Hershey Trust Company, in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Before joining Hershey Trust Company, Estey was a partner at Ballard Spahr LLP in Philadelphia, where he was a co-chair of the Government Relations and Regulatory Affairs Group. He has served as the chairman of the board of commissioners of the Delaware River Port Authority and as chairman of the board of directors of the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority He serves as chairman of board of directors of the Independence Visitor Center in Philadelphia, and is a member of the boards of directors of the Gettysburg Foundation and the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation.
The Hamilton Watch Complex is a former industrial complex in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It was owned by the Hamilton Watch Company and was used as their headquarters from the company's founding in 1892, until 1980. The complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. The main building was converted into a luxury apartment and condominium complex. The Administrative Offices now home to a Montessori School.
Cassius Emlen Urban was a Lancaster, Pennsylvania-based architect. He was the leading architect in Lancaster from the 1890s to the 1920s.
Melissa Minnich Coleman, was an architect specializing in school buildings. She was born in Landisville, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 1939 with a bachelor's degree in architectural engineering, after being awarded the 1938 Beaux-Arts Institute of Design (BAID) medal. She worked in Wilmington, Delaware from 1939 until 1941 for architect John F. Mullins, and met her husband Clifford LeRoy Coleman there. They were married August 29, 1942.
Clair Companies is an entertainment technology company and the umbrella for two brands in the industry: Clair Brothers, a loudspeaker system manufacturer, and Clair Solutions, an AVL system design and installation company.
Penn State Health Children's Hospital (PSCH) is a nationally ranked women's and pediatric acute care teaching hospital located in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The hospital has 134 pediatric beds. PSCH is affiliated with the Penn State College of Medicine and is located at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. The hospital provides comprehensive pediatric specialties and subspecialties to infants, children, teens, and young adults aged 0–21 throughout central Pennsylvania and surrounding regions. Penn State Health Children's Hospital also sometimes treats adults that require pediatric care. PSCH also features an Commonwealth of Pennsylvania designated Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center, 1 of 4 in the state.