History of Keir Educational Resources

Keir Educational Resources was founded by Jack C. Keir, Ph. D., CPCU®, CLU® in Wayne, PA in approximately 1968. Dr. Keir had been the Director of Examinations at The American College where he developed the idea of preparing supplemental study materials for the Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU®) examinations. The College was not interested in offering supplemental study materials at that time, so Dr. Keir left The American College and took a position with Temple University as a professor of Insurance.

Earning a CLU® designation in 1968 required the completion of five courses with the writing of five essay exams. All course exams were given only once a year. These courses were later divided into 10 examinations which were administered two times a year. And later changes included the switch to multiple choice question exams and the requirement change to eight courses instead of ten.

With the success of CLU® supplements, Dr. Keir was approached by Dr. Harry Brooks from Miami University who recommended the writing of supplements for CPCU® courses. Dr. Brooks and Dr. Keir teamed up for writing supplements for CPCU®, INS, AIC, and ARM exams.

In 1983 Dr. Keir decided to reduce his involvement in the company and move to Florida. At that time, his daughter Henrietta Keir Nye took over the day to day operations of the company. The fulfillment center was moved from Wayne, PA to Middletown, OH. New printers were located in Ohio and mail orders were switched to Ohio. In 1984 the phone orders were moved to Ohio.

In 1985 the company took a huge step forward and computerized the organization. The preparation of the manuscripts by computer was a great improvement for authors and editors! This of course improved the final product for the students and decreased the time needed for preparation.

The CFP® certification was beginning to grow at this time. To promote the Keir CFP® supplements, Keir attended its first national convention in Anaheim, CA in October, 1985. This line had been started in 1984 and was beginning to get recognition. Conventions has been a large part of the company promotional activities. Today the company exhibits at over 10 shows per year.

The American College responded to the growth of CFP® interest with the new ChFC® designation. Keir followed with supplements for the ChFC courses. With the addition of so many new lines, there was a great need for more authors and a full time editor. John Keir, son of the founder, joined the ranks in 1989. John Keir holds a bachelors degree from Williams College in English and a law degree from Villanova University. Soon after his joining the company, John started to write the first company materials for security licensing exams.

The business has had several locations in the Middletown, OH area. The Keir organization started as a cottage industry in the Keir home and moved to the Nye household in 1983 and to the new Nye house in 1986. Thanks to the growth of the organization and the need for new employees and new space, the company selected its first real office at 425 Clark Street in 1992. The operation out grew those facilities in 2000 and moved to the current location at 4785 Emerald Way.

Today (2010) the company distributes study media for the CLU®, ChFC®, CFP®, CFA® CPCU®, and FINRA securities licensing examinations.