Aflac CEO Dan Amos oversaw the meteoric rise of Aflac from a profitable but little-known insurance company to a health insurance brand with 90% name recognition.
Aflac, still headquartered in Columbus, Ga., has seen its stock price grow from 95 cents to more than $113 per share over the last 30 years and is repeatedly listed as one of the best places to work in America — but lists and accolades don’t really tell Amos’s story.
“You know, I don’t think I want ‘He was a great businessperson’ on my tombstone,” Amos told a group of University of Georgia students on Oct. 2 at the UGA Chapel. “Other things are more important than that. But it is because of success in the business world that you can do those other things and help others.”
UGA’s Institute for Leadership Advancement invited Amos to deliver the 2024 Mason Leadership Lecture because of his commitment to servant leadership at Aflac and in the global community.
Amos, who graduated from UGA in 1973 with a bachelor’s degree in risk management and insurance, told students he doesn’t believe in companies taking overt political stances, but he does believe in doing the right thing for employees and the community.
Aflac is recognized as a company that embraces and supports diversity in its management, on its corporate board and in its ranks.
“I’m not on the Republican side, and I’m not on the Democrat side, so I try to be as neutral on issues as possible,” Amos said. “There are certain things, like equality, that are no-brainers. It’s one of the things that’s important to us. We’ve been listed as top 100 best places to work in America for 20 consecutive years. We’ve been in the top 50 places for African Americans to work for many years, one of the best places for working women and Latinas — the list goes on. Those things are important to us.”
For Amos, it’s also important to give back to the community that helped build Aflac into a household name. He has been a faithful supporter of the Terry College of Business and UGA for several decades. Aflac has funded civic and arts endeavors across Columbus and Georgia, but Amos and Aflac’s largest focus has been supporting childhood cancer research and care.
Since 1995, Aflac raised $184 million to help fund research and care for children living with cancer and blood disorders. Amos helped establish the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, one of the nation’s preeminent research and treatment centers for childhood cancer, and the largest pediatric sickle cell program in the nation.
More recently, the Aflac Childhood Cancer Foundation has funded campaigns to help families better deal with the stress of a childhood cancer diagnosis and given away 32,000 “My Special Aflac Ducks,” lifelike toy ducks that react to petting and snuggles to comfort children during cancer treatment.
Amos told students that focusing the company’s philanthropy in the health-care sector has been successful because Aflac is a health insurance company. Keeping their giving aligned with the company’s mission helped them focus their efforts and amplified the impact of their work.
“We get all these ideas, and you have to narrow them down in scope and stay very focused on what it is you want to do,” Amos told students. “So philanthropically, we decided we were going to stay in health care and make it our number one issue.”
Keith Mason (BBA ’82, JD ’85) who underwrites the annual Mason Leadership Lecture, said Amos’s leadership in the corporate world and the world of civic philanthropy sets an example of service and vision that can inspire students across UGA.
“Dan Amos is not only one of America’s best corporate CEOs, he’s also a tremendous public leader in his community, across our state and around the world,” Mason said. “He personifies what public leadership is all about. For example, his leadership on important issues such as childhood cancer care and research, on-site childcare for Aflac employees, shareholder governance of CEO compensation and greater diversity in the workplace, boardroom and C-suite is reflective of a personal commitment to always try to do the right thing.”
The Mason Leadership Lecture is part of the Terry Leadership Speaker Series, a student-led lecture series presented by the Institute for Leadership Advancement, a privately funded unit in the Terry College.