Center for Insurance and Risk Management nears 10th anniversary of formal launch

Under the stewardship of Academic Director and Virgil M. Schwarm Associate Professor of Finance and Investments Annette Hofmann, PhD, the center continued to innovate over the 2022-23 academic year. Four new insurance and risk management (IRM) courses — Behavioral Risk Management, IRM Global Destinations, Risk Finance and Strategic Risk Management — were created to further students’ education and supply the degree program with a competitive advantage. The new Risky Talks series featured insurance and risk management industry speakers relaying their day-to-day duties to all business students.

“The center’s impact and growth have been significant and broad since its inception, having an important effect on students, the local insurance industry and beyond, as well as bringing forward academic scholarship in insurance and risk management,” Hofmann said.

Though the $5 million gift inaugurating the Center for Insurance and Risk Management was announced in early 2012, the center was not formally launched until fall 2013. Among other checklist items, the center conducted a thorough search for a director and finalized the creation of the IRM curriculum, as well as the IRM major and minor. Under the stewardship of its first director, Steve Slezak, PhD, the center offered its initial courses in spring 2014.

Hofmann, who joined the center in early 2022, focuses her research on the economics of risk and uncertainty, insurance markets, health care markets, risk leadership, risk literacy and decision-making under risk, as well as innovation in markets dealing with risk. Not long after joining the Center in early 2022, Hofmann published a book, “The Ten Commandments of Risk Leadership: A Behavioral Guide on Strategic Risk Management.” In summer 2023, Hofmann was elected to the American Risk and Insurance Association’s Board of Directors, and in 2024, she will assume editor-in-chief duties of Risk Management and Insurance Review.

Higgins, recruited to join the center in 2015 by Slezak, possesses more than 45 years of experience in commercial insurance underwriting, large accounts insurance brokerage and risk management consulting.

While Higgins noted that his responsibilities with the center are distinct from his duties as an educator, he added that “both activities are synergistic in that they serve to create and support high-quality connections between risk management professionals and the insurance industry with Lindner, thus increasing demand for our students and ensuring students can start and flourish in high-quality careers in risk management.” 

In fall 2023, the center was named a Global Center of Insurance Excellence (GCIE) by the International Insurance Society. This certification is awarded to universities and colleges with outstanding risk management and insurance programs.

The purpose of this designation is to continue to inspire academic institutions to advance insurance knowledge and research, intellectual capital development, and build connections between the insurance industry and top-tier academic programs and faculty. The center joins an exclusive membership of fewer than 1,000 academic institutions around the globe.

“It makes us very proud to be awarded the GCIE designation, and we will continue our strong commitment to IRM education and research,” Hofmann said. “We were able to receive a GCIE designation thanks to not only the continued support of our donors, advisory board and local insurance industry, but also our great students and UC administration.”

Featured image at top: Annette Hofmann (center) and Bob Higgins (right) with Seongho Song, PhD, Center for Insurance and Risk Management faculty member and professor of statistics. All photos by Danielle Lawrence.