In the wake of recent natural disasters like Hurricane Milton and Helene, and more local incidents including various field fires in Johnson County, insurance remains a critical aspect of business and everyday life.

In most states, the insurance industry makes up approximately two percent of the total economy. In Iowa, however, it makes up 10 percent. Considering this factor, it is reasonable that the University of Iowa’s risk management and insurance major program was named eighth in the nation, behind the University of Illinois and New York University, by U.S. News and World Report.

The Tippie College of Business added the risk management and insurance major program at the start of the fall 2023 semester, and it has since risen to success in just one year.

Faculty Director and Professor of Finance Martin Grace, who was recently hired at the university for his esteemed work in RMI, said the risk management and insurance industry is attractive to many, even those outside of the business field.

“If you listen to people talk about their careers in RMI, very few say they were an RMI major,” Grace said. “It attracts people not even in Tippie, and the insurance industry needs all of those people.”

Grace has worked extensively in risk management and insurance, performing research that incorporates data analysis and more economic ideas. He said the appeal of risk management and insurance is its multidisciplinary nature.

“RMI is a multidisciplinary degree,” he said. “It’s economics, finance, management, and marketing. It’s how companies manage their cost of risk.”

Grace said the risk management and insurance program appeals to students who do not feel like moving across the country for a job in the industry. Considering insurance is a strong part of Iowa’s economy, students will not have to travel to bigger cities in different states, like New York, to find a job in the industry, he said.

Grace, who has only been at the UI for a month, said the risk management and insurance program was still strong as a certificate program before its upgrade to a major choice.

To Grace, insurance is appealing for students because it is much more human and personal than other business areas.

“Students like that, they are actually doing something for somebody,” he said. “Think of hurricanes, windstorms, or tornadoes. The insurance industry pays people money when something bad happens to them. The industry’s job is to help people recover from an accident. Insurance is a way of bringing back to life those things that have been damaged.”

Grace said students are interested in the major program because of the course load, with many students adding risk management insurance as a double major. Majoring in risk management and insurance consistently adds only three or four additional class requirements to double or even triple major.

UI second-year student Jayanta Wegman said a meeting with his advisor revealed how optimal it was to add an insurance double major with only three additional classes.

“I mean, why not?” he said. “That’s a pretty good deal.”

Sharing Grace’s sentiment, Wegman believes the insurance industry is more personal and can help people more directly than other areas of business.

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“Risk management is something that I think is a pretty honest career,” Wegman said. “You’re laying it out to people as it is. This is what could go right, this is what could go wrong.”

Wegman said his interest in the insurance industry stems from family members who work in the field. He believes there are issues with the insurance industry in the United States and wants to contribute to an effort to make changes.

“There’s a lot of things that could be better about insurance in this country,” he said. “So, if I could address any of those problems, I’d like that.”

Second-year UI student Caroline Reynolds said as a pre-law student, the insurance program is still relevant to her studies and the field overall.

“Insurance has always been in my family, and I’ve always wanted to know what they do,” she said. “My dad specializes in employee benefits and one of the classes I’ll take this spring is on employee benefits, so I’m really excited for that.”

She also said she added the insurance major to her existing finance major because the requirements are so low.

Reynolds said she wants to be an insurance attorney and is looking forward to studying insurance and law in Iowa, which she believes is a strong area for the industry.

“I thought it was so cool because Iowa is such a big hub for insurance,” Reynolds said. “Iowa offering a program that sets students up for success in Iowa sets it apart from a lot of other schools.”

Grace said law and insurance go hand-in-hand. In terms of insurance contracts, it is impossible to prepare for every possible situation. In that case, legal intervention is often necessary to settle the contract’s terms.

“The insurance contract is a very specific document,” Grace said. “When there is a debate on the source of a claim, the law is important to help resolve that. You can’t write a contract that covers all eventualities, so the law is there to help settle those situations.”

Grace is looking forward to continuing his work at the UI and believes the risk management and insurance major program, through its application and success, is bringing great value to the university.

“The students are benefitting dramatically, the industry is benefitting dramatically,” he said. “The university is getting a reputational bonus. It was the right time and the right major to implement at Tippie.”