Jack Salzwedel


Jack Charles Salzwedel is the chairman and CEO of American Family Insurance, roles he has held since November 2011.

Education

Salzwedel was born in DeForest, Wisconsin. He earned a bachelor's degree in biology and business administration from Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa. While there, he was a student representative on the board of regents.

Career

He started his career after college with American Family Insurance in 1983 as a claims adjuster. He became an agent in 1985 and a district sales manager in 1988. In 1995, he became a state sales director of Wisconsin East. Then, in the year 2000, he became vice president of the Personal Lines Division and then vice president of the Life/Health Division in 2003. In 2004, he was elected as the executive vice president and in 2006 he became the company COO. By 2007, he was the president and COO of American Family Mutual. Finally, in November 2011 he was elected as the chairman and CEO.
As CEO, Salzwedel has overseen:
Salzwedel is considered "the most engaged Fortune 500 CEO on Twitter" as @AmFamJack. In 2017, he earned first place in the “Executive Visibility” category of PR Daily's Media Relations Awards. He also blogs frequently on a variety of topics.

Boards

Salzwedel is co-chair of the American Family Children's Hospital advisory board. He also serves on a number of industry trade organization boards, including the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, the Insurance Institute for High Safety, and the Insurance Information Institute.

Personal life

Salzwedel is married. He and his wife, Sarah, received the 2018 United Way of Dane County Tocqueville Society Award. The couple established the Slife Institute for Social Work Consultation, Research and Training at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, where they met.