Ali Rosenberg has known for years what she’s wanted to do for a career: risk management and insurance.

“It’s in my blood,” she says. Indeed, she will be the fifth generation Rosenberg to work in the insurance business.

The Des Moines native came to the University of Iowa in part because of its strong finance and insurance programs. She’s majoring in finance and management, earning her certificate in Risk Management and Insurance (RMI), and she’s involved in the Vaughan Institute of Risk Management and Insurance.

The field appeals to her, she says, because it depends on building relationships with clients, requires quick thinking, and calls on her to use both analytical and communication skills.

“On the wholesale brokerage side, it’s fast paced, you have to be on top of everything and balance relationships between the agent and underwriter,” she says.

She’s also active in Women in Business and Gamma Iota Sigma, the international risk management, insurance, and actuarial fraternity, and she was selected for a prestigious internship by the National Association of Professional Surplus Lines Offices last summer. She also received an Anita Benedetti Student Involvement Program grant from the RIMS risk management society in 2014.

Her work has paid off, and she already has a job lined up after graduation, working as a casualty liability and property insurance broker for a wholesale brokerage firm in Dallas.

“I am confident that Ali will become a leader in risk management and insurance, and she has the knowledge, drive, and discipline to go far,” says Viana Rockel, associate director of the Vaughan Institute. “It’s rare to have a student who is both an exceptional scholar and leader. I find students often contact her for advice before they come to me.”