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Wendall Braniff, J.D., Director
Shea Building B-410
braniffw@uhd.edu
713-226-5552
fax 713-226-5226
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Insurance & Risk Management Center
The University of Houston Downtown’s College of Business has launched its Insurance and Risk Management Center and hired Wendall Braniff, an attorney with insurance, education, government, and fundraising experience, as Director. Houstonians can now earn the premier business degree, a Bachelor in Business Administration, with a major or minor in Insurance and Risk Management. Houston, the fourth-largest city in the U.S. is also the third-largest insurance market in the U.S.
Dr. Donald Bates, Dean, working with a team of industry professionals raised the Insurance and Risk Management Center’s initial funding. Insurance agencies that have supported the college’s new center and degree program include BancorpSouth Insurance Services, Dean & Draper Insurance Agency, GEM Insurance Agencies, Hotchkiss Insurance Agency, Insurance Alliance, and USI Southwest. The Independent Insurance Agents of Texas, the Independent Insurance Agents of Houston and the Risk and Insurance Management Society of Houston also provided early support for formation of the program. Insurance carriers that are working with the College include American General Life Insurance Company, Chartis, Chubb Group of Insurance Companies, Safeco Insurance, SureTec Financial Corporation, The Hartford, and VALIC.
Insurance wholesalers who are collaborating with the College include CRC Insurance Services, HARCO Insurance Services, Kilpatrick Companies, Myron F. Steves & Company, and RPS-Leicht General Agency as well as industry consultants such as Pozmantier Insurance Consulting Services and Capstone Management. Individuals including Thomas M. Braniff, D. Fred de Roode, Robert E. Holloway, Carol A. King, Vikki Robinson, and Scott Stortzum also contributed to the founding of the program.
“They had the vision to work and contribute to an idea to make this educational program a reality and a resource for Houston and Texas,” said Don Bates, Dean of the College of Business and founder of two of the forty university insurance and risk management programs in the U.S., at Indiana State University and now at UHD.
“The IRM Center represents a unique partnership between academia and the insurance and risk management industry that is realized in the Advisory Council, providing the tie between the university and insurance and risk management professionals,” Braniff said. The Advisory Council is composed of industry leaders representing insurance agencies, carriers, wholesalers, associations, consultants and risk managers.
Students who earn a BBA with a major or minor in Insurance and Risk Management will be strategically and geographically well-positioned to move into careers including underwriting, investigating, accounting, finance, technology, sales and marketing.
The IRM Center will make scholarships available to students meeting academic requirements and provide paid internships at Houston-area insurance firms providing real-world experience and the opportunity to make industry contacts and obtain full-time jobs upon graduation. UH-Downtown has the second-lowest tuition among four-year universities in Texas.
In addition to earning credits toward a bachelor’s degree, students in the IRM program can also complete coursework and take examinations for several of the eight required courses for the Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation, the premier designation in insurance property and casualty, thereby enhancing their earning capacity on graduation.
Page maintained by College of Business Web Specialist
Last updated or reviewed on 2/2/12
