Two Indiana State University students majoring in insurance and risk management won the Anita Benedetti Student Involvement Award to attend an international conference for risk professionals.
Julie Alig, a junior, and senior Beth Book won the award, which includes a trip to the 2011 annual conference by the Risk and Insurance Management Society in Vancouver, British Columbia, from May 1-5. The conference will allow Alig and Book the opportunity to meet other college students interested in insurance, as well as network with insurance industry and corporate risk management professionals, Alig said.
"I called my mom and told her I was going to Canada, all expenses paid," she said, "and so I was really excited when I found out about this opportunity."
Alig is expected to graduate in May 2012 with a bachelor's degree in insurance and risk management. She is a member of Gamma Iota Sigma, a professional insurance and risk management and actuarial science fraternity, and has served as the vice president of communications for the group. She is also a member of the Networks Professional Development Program at ISU, and she also has worked as an academic peer advocate. She had an internship last summer at FCCI Insurance Company in Florida.
Book is expected to graduate this May with a bachelor's degree in insurance and risk management, as well as a degree in business management. She is a member of Delta Sigma Pi, and has held the positions of vice president of professional activities, vice president of chapter operations, and she is currently the organization's chancellor. She also has worked as a resident assistant while at Indiana State, and last summer she worked as a commercial lines intern for Kansas City, Mo.-based Lockton Companies, Inc.
For Book, who is currently interviewing for a career with insurance companies, the conference will give her a chance to learn more about the industry, as well as network with people in the field.
"I was not expecting it in the least," Book said of winning the award, "and it was a very, very good day when I found out."
Alig and Book are not the first students from ISU to win the award. Since 2000, more than 15 Sycamores have benefitted from the award that covers all expenses to the RIMS conference. The conference connects Indiana State University with organizations that provide paid summer internships and career opportunities for ISU graduates, said Terrie Troxel, executive director of The Gongaware Center and insurance and risk management professor in the Scott College of Business at ISU.
"Repeated selection of ISU students in our insurance and risk management program demonstrates the high regard accorded the program by members of RIMS," Troxel said. "It is another mark of distinction for the Scott College of Business's insurance and risk management program."
Photo: http://isuphoto.smugmug.com/Other/Headshot-Proofs/2010-Networks-Scholars/aligjulie-2406/1003050569_pNsvW-L.jpg
Julie Alig
Photo: http://isuphoto.smugmug.com/photos/856971467_RHFYp-L-1.jpg
Beth Book
Contact: Terrie Troxel, executive director of The Gongaware Center and insurance and risk management professor, Scott College of Business, Indiana State University, 812-237-2028 or terrie.troxel@indstate.edu.
Writer: Austin Arceo, assistant director of media relations, Office of Communications and Marketing, Indiana State University, 812-237-3790 or austin.arceo-negrich@indstate.edu.