Harry Hoopis Is the 81st John Newton Russell Memorial Award Recipient

John Newton Russel Memorial Award recipient John O. Todd founded the agency that Harry Hoopis, CLU, ChFC, eventually took over and hired Hoopis at age 30 as his general agent. In a meeting early in their relationship, Todd suggested that young Hoopis set a monumental career goal – winning the John Newton Russell Memorial Award for himself.

“Honestly, at age 30, just starting out in my own agency, I was more worried about making it to year two,” Hoopis said. “Especially since my first recruiting class of three new agents all failed in the first 90 days. John Newton Russell wasn’t going on my to-do list just yet.”

But times have changed. Capping an astonishingly successful career, the CEO of the Hoopis Performance Network and a renowned entrepreneur, leader, and speaker is the 81st recipient of the annual John Newton Russell Memorial Award. The award is the highest honor accorded by the insurance industry to a living individual who has rendered outstanding services to the institution of life insurance. The selection committee consists of representatives of the nine leading organizations in the life insurance and financial services industry.

Over his 40-year career, Hoopis built one of the largest and most successful financial services firms in the world in Chicago. He has been honored with Northwestern Mutual’s prestigious Dennis Tamcsin Career Achievement Award, was awarded the Master Agency Award every year since its inception, received the Robert Templin Award for his many contributions to management development, and is the recipient of NAIFA-Chicago’s Leadership in Life Award.

“Harry’s decades of service in insurance and financial services and his indisputable standing as an icon in our industry make him exceptionally worthy of this prestigious honor,” said NAIFA Past President Jill M. Judd, LUTCF, FSS, RICP,

Chair of the 2022 award committee. “The committee considered many qualified nominees for the award, but Harry stood out for the enduring positive impact he has had on so many of his fellow insurance and financial professionals.”

Hoopis is still an active member of two of the industry’s most elite study groups, the LIMRA Research Agencies Group and the General Agents Symposium. He is also the principal author of The Essentials of Management Development and author of the best-selling The Road to the Bountiful Life: Achieving Success in Financial Services. He is the creator of the “Firm Foundations” seminar series and developer of the “Fixed Activity Commitment System.”

Hoopis has led his organization in efforts to give back to the community through the Hoopis Financial Group Foundation. The foundation has raised several hundreds of thousands of dollars for local and national charities. Hoopis has been recognized by the Cystic Fibrosis Association for his outstanding contributions to the organization.

Reflecting on his success in the industry, Hoopis acknowledges the part NAIFA has played.

“I required all my advisors to be members of NAIFA. We were a 100% Agency every year of my 35 years as a general agent,” he said. “It seemed to me, if there’s an association as valuable as NAIFA, which helps our profession, you should be a part of it.”