Gies College of Business Establishes the AXIS Risk Management Academy at the University of Illinois

AXIS Capital Commits $1.5M to Fund Research Programs and Professional Development for Students Pursuing Careers in Risk Management

Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign today announced that it has established the AXIS Risk Management Academy in collaboration with global specialty insurer and reinsurer AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (“AXIS Capital”) (NYSE: AXS). As part of a partnership agreement with Illinois, AXIS will contribute $1.5 million over the course of five years to fund the development and management of the AXIS Risk Management Academy. The naming of the academy was approved by the University’s Board of Trustees at its March meeting. 

The AXIS Risk Management Academy will provide Illinois students who are interested in pursuing a career in risk management with research and professional development resources and experiences to support their undergraduate work. The Academy will equip students with new and exceptional sets of skills, in a culture of multidisciplinary education and student-led program discovery and problem solving.

“It is with great pride that we announce the launch of the AXIS Risk Management Academy. We are proud to expand our partnership with AXIS, a company that stands for leadership – both in the specialty (re)insurance sector and as an organization committed to educating and training future risk management professionals,” said Jeffrey R. Brown, Dean of Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois. “The Academy will provide our students with invaluable educational and professional experiences, and will help them prepare for the professional world while better understanding the wide range of career options within the (re)insurance industry.”

Housed in the Finance Department of Gies College of Business, the AXIS Risk Management Academy will work closely with the College’s Office of Risk Management and Insurance Research and will cater to students from multiple disciplines across campus. The inaugural class of the Academy has been formed for the Spring 2018 semester.

“Through the AXIS Risk Management Academy, our goal is to help students understand the rich and exciting career opportunities that can be found in the insurance and reinsurance industry. We also wish to help develop a new generation of professionals within the field in order to bring emerging ideas forward that will ensure the continual and effective management of risk in society,” said Albert Benchimol, President and CEO, AXIS Capital. “We are very pleased to grow our relationship with the University of Illinois, one of the top finance and actuarial schools and a leader in (re)insurance research and education.”

AXIS first established a presence at the University of Illinois in 2013 through an on-campus research center. The AXIS Research Center will now work with the AXIS Risk Management Academy, providing support through mentoring and internships for students in risk management-related disciplines.

In 2017, AXIS hosted its inaugural “Future of Insurance” Symposium at Illinois. The event, which included a series of panel discussions from (re)insurance industry experts, also featured a student hackathon in which Illinois students competed to create new catastrophe risk conceptualization models while leveraging data analytics, computer programming and risk modeling technologies that are reshaping the (re)insurance industry.