A team of students from Temple University’s Fox School of Business put together the pieces to win a national case competition.

The students won the Spencer-RIMS Risk Management Challenge, a three-month case study from a major company – iconic toymaker, LEGO. The competition culminated with eight teams delivering presentations during the RIMS 2016 Annual Conference and Exhibition, held April 10-14 in San Diego, Calif.

The win marked the third in five years for students from the Fox School’s nationally ranked Risk, Insurance, and Healthcare Management department. Senior Actuarial Science majors Carolyn Murset and Zilong Zhao, and Risk Management and Insurance majors Andrew Donchez and Sean Preis, a senior and a junior, respectively, comprised the winning team, which received $4,000 in prize earnings.

The Fox School students bested Florida State University and Butler University, which placed second and third, respectively.

The Spencer-RIMS Risk Management Challenge tasks undergraduates from around the country with developing a comprehensive, written risk analysis that will be judged by a panel of experts at the annual risk management society’s conference.

“Temple’s Risk Management and Insurance program has helped us to hone our analytical and critical-thinking skills, and adequately prepared us to identify the main risks facing LEGO,” Donchez said. “Meeting LEGO’s strategic risk manager and picking his brain taught us that risk management is a real-world issue that demands passionate, curious and persistent practitioners.”

“This competition reinforces that the risk management profession’s future is bright,” said RIMS CEO Mary Roth. “The Rising Risk Professional demographic of RIMS members continues to grow and their contributions and professional needs have directly influenced the resources and opportunities the Society delivers. We are so proud to be able to introduce these students to the energy and excitement of a RIMS Annual Conference and congratulate all of them for participating in the challenge.”

In November, the Fox School team had learned that it had advanced in the competition. From there, the students spent months poring over research material to craft the perfect plan for reducing risk for a company that, despite its storied history and global appeal, came close in recent years to filing for bankruptcy. Judges gauged how well Fox’s students analyzed LEGO’s risks, and presented their research findings.

“Winning the competition is an extraordinary closing on the last chapter of my Temple journey,” Zhao said. “It signifies the high caliber of future business leaders Fox School has nurtured.”

The RIMS 2016 Annual Conference and Exhibition provides students opportunities to engage with sponsors and industry leaders, network with their peers, sit in on guest lectures, tour San Diego’s best attractions, and perform community service.

“Traveling to the RIMS Conference is an amazing experience for any student in RMI,” said Dr. R.B. Drennan, Chair of the Fox School’s Risk, Insurance, and Healthcare Management department. “The number of industry professionals our students met is overwhelming. I believe they received a very good idea of the field in which they are entering.

“Further, I couldn’t have been more proud of their achievements and extending Fox’s rich tradition in winning the Spencer-RIMS Risk Management Challenge.”