The University of Iowa’s Vaughan Institute of Risk Management and Insurance has been named a Global Center of Insurance Excellence in recognition of its research excellence and outstanding risk management and insurance educational programs.

The UI is one of only 20 universities worldwide to receive the recognition from the International Insurance Society, an organization that advocates for the insurance and risk management industry around the world. It is the only school in Iowa to be so designated.

Thomas Berry-Stoelzle, associate professor of finance in the UI’s Tippie College of Business and faculty director of the institute, says the designation is particularly important in Iowa, where risk management and insurance is the second-largest segment of the state’s economy. The designation recognizes the university’s work to strengthen the profession and could help attract students who will keep it strong in the future, he says.

The designation recognized the Vaughan Institute’s rigorous and comprehensive risk management and insurance curriculum to prepare students for careers in the profession. The institute also engages in academic research designed to help strengthen the insurance and risk management profession.

The Vaughan Institute program is available to any student of any major at the UI and helps those students by arranging internships, professional mentors, and experiential consulting projects as part of the courses. Students who successfully complete the program are awarded a risk management and insurance certificate.