Meet the UE Leadership

Janice Menke Abraham joined UE as president and CEO in 1998. During her tenure, UE has become known as the premier risk management and liability insurance company serving educational institutions; nearly 1,600 schools, colleges, and universities rely on UE’s education-specific expertise. In addition, UE has been consistently profitable, produced high return on equity, and maintained the financial strength and stability to earn an A.M. Best Rating “A” (Excellent) every year since 2001.  UE has been recognized by Ward’s 50 as one of the top performers in the property-casualty insurance industry.   

Prior to joining UE, Abraham served the higher education community as chief financial officer/ treasurer at Whitman College, in various senior positions at Cornell University, and as a staff associate at the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO). Abraham also served as an international banker for J. P. Morgan. 

Abraham is a trustee at Whitman College and American University. She serves on The Institutes Board of Directors, The Griffith Foundation’s Leadership Council, American University’s School of International Service Dean’s Advisory Council, and the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB) Editorial Board. She served as the first woman chair of the board of governors of the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America from 2009-2010. She currently serves on the association’s executive and investment committees. Abraham also serves on the board of directors of UE, United Educators Management Company, and Education Insurance Services. She is a former president of the Western Association of College and University Business Officers and a past board member of NACUBO and the National Risk Retention Association. 

Abraham earned an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree in international service from American University. 

She is the author of the 2013 book, Risk Management: An Accountability Guide for University and College Trustees, published by AGB, which encourages board oversight of enterprise risk management activities at their institution.

Honors for Abraham’s contributions to insurance and education include:

• Griffith Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, 2012
• One of the Power 50, Captive Review, 2012
• A "Woman in Insurance Leadership," Insurance Networking News, 2011
• A Rising Star, Reactions, 2011
• A "Woman to Watch" as a leader of change, Business Insurance, 2006
• Great Alumni Award, Mount Lebanon High School, 2005
• Professional Development Award, NACUBO, 2005
• Insurance Woman of the Year, The Association of Professional Insurance Women, 2004
• One of the 100 Top Leading Women in the field of insurance, Business Insurance, 2004
  
  

In 2011, during a sabbatical leave, Abraham worked with LeapFrog Investments, a micro-insurance private equity fund focused on developing and launching microinsurance products in emerging markets. She has testified before Congress and the Treasury Department on insurance issues and writes and speaks frequently on strategic issues affecting educational institutions and the insurance industry.

Follow Janice on Twitter: @jmenkeabraham

Sean Barnes joined UE as the chief financial officer and vice president for finance and administration in January 2018. He oversees all finance and accounting functions, human resources, and facility management.

Prior to joining UE, Barnes was the executive vice president and chief financial officer of Assure Holding Corporation. Barnes has held a variety of corporate finance and accounting roles involving SEC reporting, consolidations, general accounting, and mergers and acquisitions. Barnes began his career at Johnson Lambert & Co. LLP, specializing in the audits of property casualty insurance companies. He also serves as a board member for the Insurance and Accounting Systems Association Mid-Atlantic Chapter.

Barnes has an undergraduate degree in accounting from James Madison University and a Masters of Business Administration from George Mason University. He is a certified public accountant in the Commonwealth of Virginia and has completed The Institutes Associate in Insurance Accounting and Finance program.

Ramesh Bulusu joined UE in 2015 as chief information officer. In his role, Bulusu leads all information technology functions and provides leadership and guidance to digital, information, and knowledge management practices.

Bulusu has more than 20 years of experience in all facets of IT management across diverse industries including financial services, healthcare, telecommunications, government, and nonprofit organizations. Prior to UE, Ramesh was vice president of technology strategy and application services at AARP, where he had the executive responsibility for IT strategy and planning, customer relationship management, enterprise architecture, application development, support, and maintenance functions. Prior to AARP, Bulusu was a director at AOL, where he managed multiple consumer facing digital properties and the underlying technology infrastructure. Bulusu also worked at IBM and PwC, providing consulting services to clients.

Bulusu holds an MBA from the College of William & Mary, a masters in engineering from Utah State University, and a Bachelor of Technology from JNTU, India. 

Follow Ramesh on Twitter: @rbulusuc

Joe Carter joined UE in 2005. Joe has a multifaceted career record in business and personal lines insurance with extensive experience in marketing and strategic planning. Prior to joining UE, he served as vice president and managing director at Bank of America’s insurance services group, where he planned and built the bank’s proprietary insurance sales center.

Carter has also served in executive and leadership roles with Prudential Property and Casualty and Allstate Insurance Company. His insurance career also includes an entrepreneurial accomplishment, when he was owner and president of a middle-market focused insurance brokerage/agency.

Carter has completed The Institutes’ Executive Education program at the Darden School of Business, the Creating and Managing Strategic Alliances program at the Kellogg School of Business, and he was honored with the 2015 Service Award from his alma mater, Old Dominion University.

As vice president of underwriting, Bryan Elie's key responsibilities include researching and creating new insurance products, revising existing policy language, applications, and underwriting guidelines, and managing the underwriting approach on UE's most complex new and renewal accounts. Elie started his career with UE in 1995. He was promoted to associate vice president of underwriting in 2004, and moved to the underwriting leadership position in 2009.

Before joining UE, Elie worked for Aetna Casualty for five years and at Great American Insurance for two years in both marketing and underwriting positions.

Elie received his Bachelor of Science degree in business from Wake Forest University in 1988.

As UE vice president and chief actuary and chief risk officer, Johnny Gilbert guides strategic and tactical direction and resources for risk selection, pricing, reserving, and data analytics. He also provides leadership and decision support for accounts, reinsurance, general liability, and umbrella reserves to UE.

Before joining UE in 2010, Gilbert spent three years at Geico working in actuarial roles. Prior to this, he was a business analyst for Health Management Systems.

Gilbert is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is an active volunteer and Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society (2012) and attained his Associate in Reinsurance in 2012 and his Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst designation in 2013.

Jan Holt joined UE in February 2003 and serves as its senior counsel. 

Prior to joining UE, she was a partner in Hogan & Hartson, LLP., a Washington-based international law firm. Holt spent 20 years with the firm, specializing in litigation and general counseling. Prior to this, Holt clerked for the Honorable Stanley S. Harris and the Honorable James A. Belson of the DC Court of Appeals.

Holt graduated first in her class from Georgetown University with a bachelor’s degree in accounting, and she received her law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law. She also is a certified public accountant.

Robb Jones is UE's senior vice president and general counsel for claims management. He heads a team of 26 lawyers and 29 other professionals responsible for liability claims management for UE's nearly 1,600 members. He has been at UE since 1997.

Jones has over 35 years of experience serving the education community. He currently serves as a trustee for a liberal arts college, as an adviser to the American Law Institute’s Project on Sexual and Gender-Based Misconduct on Campus, and is a member of the National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA). He frequently speaks on topics and developments related to Title IX, campus violence, education law, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Jones has evaluated higher education legal programs for the federal government and a state board of regents and has taught as an adjunct faculty member at two institutions. From 1994-97 he was director of the Judicial Education Division of the Federal Judicial Center, where he developed and managed training and continuing legal education programs for the federal courts. From 1991-94 he served as chief of staff to Chief Justice William Rehnquist at the U.S. Supreme Court. Before that time he was a litigation partner in a Washington law firm, where he concentrated on education, employment, and media litigation.

Jones received his undergraduate degree from Grove City College and graduate and law degrees from the University of Virginia.

Follow Robb on Twitter: @RobbJones_UE

Constance Neary is the vice president for risk management at UE and, in this role, oversees research examining liability claims trends and practices used to successfully manage risk in the educational setting. Neary works with a diverse staff of 30 subject matter experts, learning designers and technologists, and consultants to deliver publications, webinars and workshops, online courses, and consulting services to meet the needs of UE members committed to reducing risk. In addition, Neary oversaw the 2017 launch of the Canopy Programs business unit to expand UE’s mission of serving education by providing for fee online risk management and compliance training resources to educational institutions beyond the UE membership.

Neary arrived at UE in 1993 as a claims attorney eager to assist educational institutions by evaluating legal claims and managing litigation services provided by outside defense counsel. After assuming leadership positions in the claims department and acquiring deep understanding of unique risks that expose educational institutions to potential liability, UE asked Neary to develop a risk management “think tank” and to expand the range of educational resources that UE provides to its members. In 2009, Neary joined UE’s executive team and embarked upon a strategy to deliver risk management more broadly by providing online education to faculty, staff and student populations. Since the 2010 launch, over 750,000 learners have accessed risk management and compliance education using UE’s online courses.

Neary serves as a trustee of Vermont Law School and presents regularly on liability and risk management topics to associations and insurance industry groups serving all segments of education. In 2011, she was the recipient of Risk and Insurance’s “risk innovator of the year” award and has participated on various committees of the National Association of College and University Attorneys and the editorial board of the Journal of College and University Law. Prior to joining UE, Neary practiced law at Steptoe & Johnson in Washington, D.C.

She completed her undergraduate work at Westminster College (PA) in theater arts, received her law degree from Vermont Law School, and has completed executive education at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business.