"Mr. Internet" sculpture

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Insurance Hall of Fame on The University of Alabama campus is now the repository of an original bronze sculpture called “Mr. Internet.”

Its creator, international insurance lawyer Sol Kroll, says he created the sculpture because, “The Internet encapsulates the entire world and has touched upon everyone’s life.”

Kroll and his wife, who is an artist, recently visited the Culverhouse College of Commerce at the invitation of Dr. John Bickley, professor emeritus of insurance and founder of the Insurance Hall of Fame and the International Insurance Society.

Kroll said he has been sculpting for more than 50 years. “Mr. Internet” was first done in clay, then cast in bronze. The original piece didn’t suit Kroll, and he added to it to give it a more active look, he said. His wife, Ruth, was a specialist in marine law and plays violin and viola. “We take art rather seriously,” Kroll said.

Kroll and his wife live in Bedford, N.Y., a community in Westchester County. Kroll and Bickley have been friends for more than 25 years after meeting in the Philippines at an insurance function.

Kroll, a graduate of St. John’s University, LLB, is admitted to the New York Bar, the Washington, D.C. Bar, before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern & Southern Districts of New York, as well as before the United States Supreme Court. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the International Bar Association, the International Association of Insurance Counsel and the New York County Lawyers Association.

His firm was devoted exclusively to the practice of insurance law and insurance defense, and he has been an insurance lawyer for the past 40 years. He was one of the first American lawyers to practice in Europe and the Far East and opened the first American law offices in London and Japan.

His firm was U.S. General Counsel to the Institute of London Underwriters for 15 years and the Association Francaise Des Societes D’Assurances Transports.

“My theory of practicing law was to always be different. I always used the term ‘creative,’” he said.

He has published a number of articles, and he has worked closely with Lloyd’s Underwriters in medical malpractice, products liability and professional liability and professional policy in formulating policy wording.

“Sol Kroll is a true original and very dear friend,” Bickley said. “He has been a leader in the regulation of insurance and has always been ahead of the field. It is an honor to have him and his wife on campus and to accept this original sculpture on behalf of the Insurance Hall of Fame, the Culverhouse College of Commerce and The University of Alabama.”

The sculpture is on display in the Hall of Fame on the fourth floor of Alston Hall.

The UA undergraduate business program at the Culverhouse College of Commerce is ranked 53rd nationally by U.S. News and World Report. The undergraduate accounting program at the Culverhouse School of Accountancy is ranked number 25 nationally in the latest Public Accounting Report rankings.

Forbes magazine recently released its rankings of M.B.A. programs placing The University of Alabama’s Manderson Graduate School of Business at 46th overall among full-time M.B.A. programs and 20th among public M.B.A. programs nationwide.

Manderson was third among SEC programs trailing Vanderbilt and South Carolina, which were 25th and 44th respectively. Harvard University leads the 2003 Forbes rankings, followed by Columbia University and the University of Chicago.

The marketing program is ranked 22nd in the nation in a study that assesses the influence of marketing articles, scholars and institutions. The study was published in the Summer 2003 issue of The American Marketing Association.

In addition, the business school's entrepreneurship program is ranked in the top 100 by Entrepreneur magazine.