The Risk Management and Insurance Program (RM&I) at the University of St. Thomas announced the appointment of Daniel D. Riley as an executive fellow and director. Riley’s role is to oversee the management of the undergraduate RM&I program and to help grow the program at the university. In this role, he will work closely with the faculty and staff associated with the College of Arts and Sciences and the Opus College of Business, as well as the long-established Actuarial Science Program.
“After nearly four decades of experience in the industry, I have a unique opportunity to work with one of the finest private Catholic universities in the country in helping them build their RM&I program,” Riley said. “We are focused on recruiting students into the RM&I industry, as well as working with all areas of the insurance community in Minnesota and throughout the U.S. to support this program. The goal is to provide internships, scholarships and insurance careers to St. Thomas RM&I students. The ultimate purpose is to prepare and place our students in quality jobs in this industry.”
The Risk Management and Insurance Program at the University of St. Thomas was founded in 2020 with generous seed money donated by several prominent industry associations and companies. The university is indebted to the efforts of Mike Happe (SFM) and Wes Griffiths (Travelers) in helping to secure these early gifts that have made it possible to hire a person with the knowledge and experience in the industry to move the program to the next level.
“As is widely known, the insurance industry in Minnesota – and throughout the country – is laser-focused on searching for qualified, college-educated insurance professionals to move into all roles in the insurance landscape. Finding new, young professionals for the industry is a challenge for insurance companies, insurance agencies, and all the related companies that support and service this key industry,” Riley said. “There are many great jobs that need to be filled and St. Thomas is well positioned to help meet this need with the expansion of their RM&I program. It will be exciting to move this project forward to help fill this large need for the industry and provide meaningful careers for St. Thomas graduates.”
Riley pointed to his previous role as the CEO of the Big I of MN as a model for what he is hoping to achieve with the RM&I program at St. Thomas: “Along with current CEO April Goodin, we have worked extremely hard over the past several years to help St. Thomas start its Risk Management and Insurance Program and to support the Gamma Iota Sigma (GIS) student chapter on campus. I look forward to working with April and her staff to further their efforts to expand the insurance programs at St. Thomas while increasing the flow of students into internships and careers in the independent agency system.”
Riley and St. Thomas intend to build similar bridges and pipelines with other interested partners in the industry and hope to make the university the leading RM&I educational institution in the region.
For more information, please email Daniel D. Riley or call Michael Axtell, Professor and Director of the Actuarial Science Program, at (651) 962-5495.
