The Risk Management Association – A Bridge Between Students and Risk Professionals

By Yuqi Wen
Fisher College of Business
Class of 2016

In September 2012, I was a sophomore, and an email from one of my professors caught my attention. In the email, the professor pointed out the growing importance of the risk industry, and yet he lamented on the lack of a risk group at The Ohio State University serving as a professional organization for students. Several of my classmates and I responded to the challenge, and we partnered with The Risk Institute to build the Fisher College of Business chapter of Risk Management Association (RMA).

As a bridge between OSU students and risk management professionals, RMA aims to offer prospective graduates opportunities to connect with experienced risk practitioners as well as with public and private organizations operating in a world of continuous and unexpected risk. The reality is that risk management plays a significant role for every company’s sustainable development, and we hope our student organization can help bring best practices to light.

Our organization could not stand alone. We are blessed with the support of The Risk Institute, a consortium of leading academics and forward-thinking companies developing cutting-edge risk management practices. Through collaborations with The Risk Institute, our student members are granted exposure to new research along with a wide variety of prospective employers in the field.

To help advance students in their knowledge and in their involvement in the risk industry, RMA has hosted a series of guest speakers. Among the highlights from the last year are:

• Greg Adams, director of management and financial reporting at AEP, who spoke on governance and culture
• Jamie Jones, lead meteorologist at NetJets Aviation, Inc., who discussed weather disruption and its impact on the aviation industry
• Helen Patton, OSU’s chief information security officer, who spoke about IT security
• Donovan Gibson, vice president of analytics at JP Morgan Chase who spoke about the important role analytics plays in managing risk
• Elizabeth Wilber, senior manager of advisory services at EY who spoke about how organizations can better manage and benefit from risk

Yuqi Wen was honored with a Pace Setters Award, the college’s top honor, in the spring of 2016.

A favorite event of the RMA students is The Risk Institute’s Annual Conference, held in the fall, in which members have the unique opportunity to volunteer and help coordinate the event. I have attended this conference the last two years, and I personally have benefited from the networking opportunities with faculty from other colleges within OSU and most importantly with industry leaders.

This spring, RMA also held a case simulation competition in which members worked together in teams to utilize their general business knowledge and risk management skills to propose the best solution to the given problem. The RMA’s year concluded with the Annual Banquet, which gave students networking opportunities with risk professionals while raising awareness of RMA and its goals.

My involvement in the RMA has enriched my college experience. Ultimately, it has helped deepen my understanding of risk beyond the classroom and advance my ability to solve problems and to conduct research on the risk industry.

Yuqi Wen served as president of the RMA during the 2015-2016 academic year, and will graduate from Fisher College of Business in May 2016 with a Bachelor of Business Administration, Accounting and Finance.  She is an honor student, has been on the Dean’s List since December 2012, and a recipient of Fisher’s Pace Setters Award in 2016.  After graduation, Wen will begin her career at PricewaterhouseCoopers.