Lee Bodenhamer: Arkansas Business Hall of Fame

Lee Bodenhamer, after earning a doctorate and joining the faculty at Harvard University, returned to Arkansas to build his First Variable Life Insurance Company, the first company in the United States to sell a variable life insurance policy. He founded Meridian Management Co. in 1977 as an investment management division of First Variable.

Through his financial expertise, Meridian grew to almost $500 million in managed assets. In 1998, Bodenhamer established a fellowship program at the University of Arkansas for freshmen entering the Honors College.

 

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