Hundreds filled the two-tiered Grand Ballroom at Philadelphia’s Hyatt at the Bellevue for the Fox School of Business’ 28th Annual Department of Risk, Insurance, and Healthcare Management Awards for Excellence Dinner.

The gala, held April 13, helped pay tribute to the department’s current successes, as well as its rich tradition and rising national rank.

Dr. R.B. Drennan, Chair of Fox’s Risk, Insurance, and Healthcare Management department, honored a team of Risk Management and Insurance (RMI) and Actuarial Science students who, a weekend prior, had taken first place in the prestigious Spencer-RIMS national Risk Management Challenge, a three-month case study of a risk portfolio, for which the students were tasked with developing proposed solutions.

The night also centered on growth in the program. Not only is the Sigma Chapter of Gamma Iota Sigma the nation’s largest chapter, but the Fox School also serves as the largest provider of Risk Management & Insurance education in the United States, according to a recent survey.

Top industry executives have taken notice of our programs and that is a testament to the quality of our students,” said Dr. M. Moshe Porat, Dean of the Fox School of Business. “I think you will all agree that we have succeeded on all accounts – more students, more speakers, better rankings, and more success.”

Porat helped found the department’s annual awards reception 28 years ago, when he served as the department’s chair. It began, Porat said, as a small luncheon held at Temple’s Mitten Hall.

And today, because of the many successes of our Risk, Insurance, and Healthcare Management students, smaller venues are not feasible for such an occasion,” Porat said.

The Grand Ballroom at Philadelphia’s Hyatt at the Bellevue served as the venue for the 28th annual Department of Risk, Insurance, and Healthcare Management Awards for Excellence.

Richard Rosenbaum, senior Actuarial Science major and President of the Sigma Chapter of Gamma Iota Sigma, lauded Drennan for facilitating the department’s growth and continually improving its reputation nationally and internationally. For the third consecutive year, Fox’s RMI program ranked among the nation’s top-5 such programs in the United States.

He not only has shown us the vast opportunities available in risk management, but also has helped us with navigating difficult educational and professional decisions in our first years at Temple,” Rosenbaum said of Drennan, who presides over the longest-running continuous program of its kind in the U.S.

Dr. R.B. Drennan, Chair of the Risk, Insurance, and Healthcare Management department, delivers remarks at the department’s 28th annual Awards for Excellence.

The event’s keynote speaker, Thomas F. Motamed, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for CNA Financial Corporation, discussed his foray into the RMI industry, its future, and the role Fox School of Business students can play in it. Motamed addressed the ever-increasing need for talent in the RMI profession as one of the most significant challenges facing the industry today. Due to retiring professionals, he said the industry needs to fill 400,000 positions by 2020 in order to remain fully staffed.

So if you are a student of risk management at Temple, you must be aware that you are truly coveted,” Motamed said. “You are the human capital of the future.”