On February 21, 2025, West Virginia University hosted its Insurance Symposium event, sponsored by a generous grant from the Spencer Educational Foundation, with attendance from students across multiple majors and alumni representing a wide range of specialties. 

Students had the ability to meet with employers seeking interns and full-time graduate hires in insurance and risk management roles. Blue Ridge Risk Partners, Henderson Brothers, Burns & Wilcox, Northwestern Mutual and Viatris all hosted booths and enjoyed spending the morning networking with our students. 

The event kicked off with a keynote from Lance Ewing, vice president of enterprise risk management at Cotton Holdings, who pulled from his extensive experience involving the casino and entertainment industries to discuss risk-taking and highlight emerging trends including AI and extreme weather events. 

The speech was followed by a panel discussion on insurance careers and what students can bring to the table to strengthen their hiring potential. Panelists included notable WVU alumni and volunteers Adam Dyer, the chief insurance & acquisition officer and WV president of Blue Ridge Risk Partners; Kirk Aguirre, the senior vice president WC large accounts WV & PA at Encova Insurance; Mary Klinestiver Madurski, the PAAS education manager at Verisk; and Kelsey Knotts, WVU’s own risk manager. 

The overall message conveyed to students was that the industry has a lot of opportunity for recent graduates, and that strong interpersonal skills and initiative will open the door to unlimited potential while still offering work-life balance. 

For finance majors, Insurance & Risk Management is available as an area of emphasis. For students outside of the major, Insurance & Risk Management is also available as a minor. Course offerings include Introduction to Insurance & Risk Management (FIN350), Employee Benefits (FIN452), Life & Health Insurance (FIN453), and Property & Casualty Insurance (FIN454). 

Kaitlin Nickasch
Finance Teaching Instructor

"Let's Talk Business" is a series of guest blogs written by members of the Chambers College community. All views expressed in this post are the author's own.

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