OXFORD, Miss. – The MorganWhite Group, a Mississippi
company headquartered in Jackson, has pledged $200,000 to
create the MorganWhite Group Scholarship Endowment in
Insurance and Human Resources Management at the University
of Mississippi.
The company’s founders, Johnny Morgan and David White, are
both graduates of UM’s School of Business Administration.
“We are overwhelmed by the generosity of Johnny Morgan and
David White,” said Brian Reithel, business school dean.
“Our alumni’s involvement is so important to our business
school and is crucial to the success of our current
students. We are truly grateful to the MorganWhite Group
for this wonderful gift.”
The gift is part of the university’s MomentUM campaign, a
four-year initiative to raise $200 million. The campaign,
which ends in December 2008, already has raised more than
$160 million for scholarships, graduate fellowships,
faculty support, a basketball practice facility,
residential colleges and a new law school on the Oxford
campus. Also in the plan is a cancer center at the UM
Medical Center in Jackson.
The scholarship is to assist deserving students with
demonstrated financial need in their pursuit of degrees in
insurance or human resources management in the School of
Business Administration. Scholarships are to be awarded in
the amount of $1,000 per semester to full-time students who
maintain at least a 3.0 GPA and can be awarded until the
course of study is completed.
“We’ve had tremendous success, and we owe Ole Miss a lot of
the credit,” said White, who earlier this year provided six
other scholarships for UM students to travel to London to
learn about the international aspects of the industry. “We
also wanted to give back to the business school to help
create future leaders in our industry. One thing Ole Miss
has done for us is create lasting business relationships
that we would never be able to put a dollar amount on.”
His business partner agreed. “We would challenge anyone
that’s been successful in the insurance industry to support
the industry by giving back to Ole Miss,” Morgan said.
Morgan, who lives in Oxford, and White, who lives in
Madison, first met as roommates their freshman year at Ole
Miss. At that time, Morgan had a small laundry business and
White was working for his grandfather’s equipment business.
Both hard workers and budding entrepreneurs, they
recognized talent and drive in each other early on and
decided to join forces.
“We liked the idea of being in business together,” Morgan
said.
Morgan earned his business degree in 1970, and White
followed in 1972. After toiling in a few other separate
business ventures, the two made plans to go into the
equipment business together, working for White’s
grandfather. But when they learned the family business had
been sold, they had to come up with another plan.
When Morgan learned about the IRS Section 125 cafeteria
plan, which makes it possible for employers to offer
employees a choice between cash salary and a variety of
nontaxable benefits, he saw a niche in the insurance
market. It was then that the two friends decided they could
fill that niche.
“I didn’t know a lot about insurance,” Morgan said. “But I
saw an opportunity in the industry, and the idea grew from
there.”
They founded the MorganWhite Group in 1986. The business
started out primarily focusing on payroll deduction
supplemental insurance products and has expanded to include
medical, dental and vision insurance and products
especially designed for a senior market.
In the 1990s, Morgan and White noticed an interesting thing
happening in the Latin American insurance market: Many
people in Latin American countries were purchasing
insurance in American dollars because local currencies were
being devalued. Having a savvy business sense, Morgan and
White saw opportunity and began to administer major medical
policies for insured persons residing in Latin America and
the Caribbean who wanted access to U.S. hospital and
medical services.
“David can work up a product for a market that fills a need
better than anyone I’ve ever seen,” Morgan said.
In keeping with the trend of introducing innovative
solutions by offering insurance products that cannot be
found anywhere else, Morgan and White recently started a
seniors’ division. The MorganWhite Group formed MWG Senior
Healthcare to assist seniors in understanding the numerous
and sometimes complex changes taking place within the
Medicare system.
“Beginning in 2009, more than 10,000 people a day will turn
60,” White said. “So I’m a big believer in the future of
senior products.”
In 2005, the MorganWhite Group was divided into two new
entities, becoming MWG Employee Benefits Inc., a direct
sales division, and MWG Marketing Inc., an employee
benefits agency. The MorganWhite Group has offices in
Oxford, Greenville and Miami, and many clients in the
Caribbean and in Latin America who seek coverage in
American hospitals and other U.S.-based medical
facilities.
The gift is part of the university’s MomentUM campaign, a
four-year initiative to raise $200 million. MomentUM, which
ends in December 2008, already has raised more than $160
million for scholarships, graduate fellowships, faculty
support, a basketball practice facility, residential
colleges and a new law school on the Oxford campus. Also in
the plan is a cancer center at the University of
Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson.