Lubbock Businessman Appointed to Chair Texas Mutual Board

Texas Mutual Insurance Company announced that Richard Cooper of Lubbock has been named chair of the company’s board of directors. Cooper replaces Martin Young Jr. of Houston, who served as chair since 1995.

Cooper is president of National Travel Systems, a Lubbock-based travel management company specializing in Olympic sports events, government/higher education and international missionary travel programs, with offices in Austin, Dallas, Amarillo, Midland, Odessa and Indianapolis. He has served on the Texas Mutual Insurance Company board of directors since 1996. He serves on the board Executive Committee, and he has chaired the board Audit Committee for six years. He assumes the board chairmanship during a time when the Texas workers’ comp system is experiencing more change than it has in a decade.

Last year, Texas Mutual launched the state’s first certified workers’ compensation health care network. The network’s goal is to control claim costs in Texas, which are among the highest in the nation, and help return injured workers to productive employment.

During the past nine years, the company has put about $440 million back into the Texas economy through its policyholder dividend program, including a company-record $125 million this summer. It has also continued to solidify its reputation for promoting workplace safety, fighting fraud and helping injured employees return to work.

Source: Texas Mutual Insurance Company, www.texasmutual.com.