Fox Students Win National Risk Management Competition
Four Fox School of Business students flew to Denver, Co., for a national competition in which they gave a presentation in front of 100 risk management industry leaders on April 30, 2014. Moments after finalist presentations ended, the three teammates learned they won the Risk and Insurance Management Society’s inaugural Spencer-RIMS Risk Management Challenge.
“I wasn’t actually in the room when our victory was announced, so I didn’t believe it right away,” Cathleen Gabriel, a senior risk insurance and healthcare management major said. “I was beyond excited when it sunk in.”
The competition has taken place for the last three years. This was the first year the conference was hosted at the RIMS conference, and the second consecutive year Temple University’s Fox School team won.
“It’s a testament to their hard work and training,” said Professor Robert Drennan, chair of Fox’s risk, insurance and healthcare management department. “We’ve always felt our undergraduate program at the Fox School is the very best in the country. A lot of objective evidence points to that, and this victory is just one more piece of evidence.”
The team entered the challenge back in February when they and the 14 other contestants were presented with a risk management situation for Snap-on Inc. Each team had to respond to a proposal and create a presentation to win Snap-on’s business.
Each team submitted proposals to RIMS and by March, judges narrowed the running to nine teams. Nine schools were invited to the annual RIMS conference in Denver and gave oral presentations to a panel of 10 judges. Those judges chose three finalist teams, who gave their presentation in front of industry leaders and professionals on the conference’s last day.
The Fox School team was awarded $4,000 for their first place victory.
“Everything I’ve learned in the classroom, I’ve been able to apply to real life situations,” Gabriel says. “Attending and winning the Spencer-RIMS Challenge with my teammates was an amazing way to end a tremendous college career.”
About the Author
Erin Purcell
Staff Writer, covering MetroMBA's news beat for New York, Philadelphia, and Boston.
