Jim Mullins '03 (left) presents a risk management alumni award to Gena Rawlins '05.

IWU Risk Management Students Win Scholarships, Awards

Aug. 4, 2005

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - Illinois Wesleyan University's risk management students continued their tradition of award-winning excellence over the 2004-05 academic year. Following is a list of the six students honored with scholarships and awards during the past year.

-- Jason Fisher of Delavan, Ill., a senior risk management major, was nominated for the Mid-Illinois Risk and Insurance Management Society, Inc. (RIMS) Chapter Scholarship by Tim Query, associate professor of business administration and coordinator of risk management studies. Also nominated was Matthew Koch. Fisher and Koch will share the $500 award, which is typically awarded to one IWU student annually. This summer, Fisher has an internship at State Farm Insurance.

-- Andrew Heikes of Shawano, Wis., a senior risk management and mathematics double major, was named a 2005 Spencer Scholar by RIMS. The designation marks the seventh consecutive year that an IWU student has won the $5,000 award, which is the most prestigious honor available to undergraduate risk management students. Heikes also received the Angus Robinson Jr. Memorial Scholarship and the Insurance Scholarship Foundation of America's college scholarship. Heikes, who has wanted to be an actuary since his sophomore year of high school, is a second-year intern at State Farm Insurance.

-- Jenise Klein of Bartlett, Ill., a senior business major, was nominated by Query for IWU's Steve Ring Award. The scholarship, founded by Steven A. Ring, IWU class of '79, goes to a Chicago area junior who shows promise in the field of risk management. Klein completed an internship at State Farm Insurance over May Term and now is an underwriting intern at Country Insurance and Financial Services.

-- Matthew Koch of Bloomington, a senior risk management major, won the Mid-Illinois RIMS Chapter Scholarship along with Fisher. At Query's recommendation, Koch also applied for and won the Central Illinois Chapter of the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) Society Scholarship, a $3,000 award. Koch is currently completing an insurance rotation internship at Country Insurance and Financial Services, where he will spend six months handling single auto claims in the central claims office and six months working in underwriting.

-- Gena Rawlins of Atlanta, Ill., a 2005 graduate of IWU, received the first James Mullins Professional Designation Award this spring. The award, designed by Jim Mullins, IWU class of '03, and Query, reimburses examination fees for a risk management student who successfully completes an exam toward an insurance designation, license or certification. This spring, Rawlins passed one of the ten exams leading to the designation of Fellow, Life Management Institute. Currently, Rawlins is employed as an underwriter with St. Paul Travelers insurance in Naperville, Ill.

-- Hilary Schweitzer of Lincoln, Ill., a 2005 graduate of IWU, won the Angus Robinson Jr. Memorial Foundation Scholarship, an award of up to $5,000 for undergraduate risk management students with financial need. In April, Schweitzer participated in the Anita Benedetti Student Involvement Program, which consisted of an all expenses paid trip to the RIMS Annual Conference and Exhibition in Philadelphia. The IWU business department also nominated Schweitzer for the Wall Street Journal Student Achievement Award, which provides her with a free one-year subscription to the publication. Schweitzer is currently training with Zurich North America, a commercial property-casualty insurance company.