Doctor of Moving at OneAmerica

Doctor of Moving at OneAmerica

Doctor of Moving at OneAmerica

Dr. John Pearson was set to retire, instead he spent 2 years preparing the company to move

On Dec. 5, 1979, groundbreaking ceremonies were held at One American Square, a few miles south of the existing AUL headquarters at Fall Creek Parkway near Meridian Street. It was time to get serious about planning the eventual move from Fall Creek to Downtown.

Associates began to clean offices, tossing unneeded files, correspondence and accumulated junk.

Dr. John Pearson, vice president for medical and underwriting (as those divisions were known at the time) had been asked by then-Chairman Jack Reich to take the job of moving coordinator, instead of retiring.

Dr. Pearson’s office was overflowing with blueprints, floor plans and office-equipment inventories. “He had to figure out where everything, and everyone, was going to go,” said his coworker and son, Joe (pictured left holding a book about OneAmerica history), who has been with OneAmerica for 39 years. (The Pearsons’ length of service at OneAmerica together spans 63 years.)

Dr. Pearson, a flight surgeon in World War II, joined the company in 1954; he spent the better part of two years planning and coordinating the company’s relocation. After leading the successful relocation, Dr. Pearson retired in 1983. 

Not many associates remember that era, but Joe, who is assistant vice president of product development for our individual life financial services division, certainly does. But he says his father’s varied roles (medicine to moving) mirror what associates today are encouraged to aspire to.

At OneAmerica, Joe says, an associate has the opportunity to “serve different roles and do a lot of different things.”