WASHINGTON - Avonel "Nel" Daniels won the 1996 Lillywhite Award for her lifetime contributions to improving Americans' economic security.
The award, sponsored by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, Washington, was presented at Pensions & Investments' annual investment management conference here last week.
In accepting the award, Ms. Daniels said she appreciated "the opportunity to get to know and work with superior people who were willing to share their own knowledge and experience."
Ms. Daniels had worked for the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, Brookfield, Wis., for 34 years; she retired in 1993. She was the first paid employee, concluding her career as director of education programs.
Among her accomplishments:
She helped develop and initially administer the Certified Employee Benefit Specialist program the foundation co-sponsors with the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
Ms. Daniels also developed and managed the Department of Labor's training program in 1975 to teach the first-time administrators of the 1974 Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
The Lillywhite Award honors Ray Lillywhite, a pioneer in the pension field whose career spanned 55 years. Mr. Lillywhite guided state employee pension plans for decades and retired from Alliance Capital Management in 1992 at age 80.
