Horace Mann-NEA Foundation Partnership Recognizes the Nation's Best Public Educators Each Year

Horace Mann has sponsored The NEA Foundation's Awards for Teaching Excellence since the 2001 creation of the program and is its longest standing corporate partner.

Each year, five educators receive the Horace Mann Awards for Teaching Excellence from dozens of nominees selected by NEA state affiliates and from 10 semifinalists interviewed by a panel of education experts and leaders in their field. The much anticipated awards are presented at The NEA Foundation's Salute to Excellence in Education Gala in Washington, D.C.

Known as the Academy Awards of public education, the Gala is a national celebration of the men and women who work in America's public schools that attracts almost 900 leaders from public education, business, philanthropy and the government, who gather to pay tribute to public education and its supporters.

Louis G. Lower II, the former President & CEO of the Horace Mann Companies, was a member of the NEA Foundation's Board of Directors in 2001 when the awards were conceived. He coupled his connection with the NEA Foundation and his company's passion for education to create this mutually beneficial partnership.

The Horace Mann Companies was founded in 1945 in Springfield, Ill. by two teachers whose goal was to provide auto insurance to their fellow educators. Named for the father of American public education, Horace Mann, the company has grown to become the nation's largest multiline insurance company focusing specifically on educators and their families.

Because of its affiliation with the NEA Foundation and the Awards in Teaching Excellence, the company is recognized year after year in local and national media coverage of the awards.

Through this ongoing partnership with the NEA Foundation, Horace Mann continues its rich tradition of positively affecting public education in America.