Scholar Winners

The IRUA Scholars Committee recently invited interns and recent graduated employees of IRUA member companies to participate in its Annual Scholars Essay Program. Participants submitted a 3,000-4,000 word white paper on an industry-relevant topic of their choosing, with the winning entries earning monetary prizes to help offset their education expenses. Below are the our 2024 Scholars Essay Program Winners and a link to their papers.  
 
2024 Scholars Essay Program - Winning Papers

First Place - Reilly Melvin (University of Tennessee, Knoxville), who interned at Arch Re, was the First Place winner with their paper entitled: The California Insurance Crisis.

Second Place - Nick Siracuse, who is a first-year, full-time employee at Guy Carpenter hired in August 2024, took Second Place for his paper entitled: PFAS: The Next Asbestos or The Boogeyman? 

Third Place - Rylie Martin (University of Iowa)  who interned at Guy Carpenter took Third Place for their paper entitled: Secondary Perils Become Primary Concerns 

Honorable Mention – Allison Degree (Fairfield university) who interned at PartnerRe was awarded Honorable Mention for her paper entitled: Escaping PFAS: The Impossible Dream

Congratulations to all our winners! Thank you for participating in this years IRUA Scholars Essay Program.  We wish you every success with your future (re)insurance careers. 
 

2023 Scholars Essay Program
Winning Essays

To read the winning essays, click on the appropriate link below.

First Place:  Jeffrey Sergio (Vassar College) of Odyssey Re was the First Place winner with his paper entitled:  Defining and Pricing Systematic Cyber Events. Jeffrey interned at Odyssey Re.

Second Place: Emma Kendall ( Rutgers University, New Brunswick) took Second Place for her paper entitled: Social Inflation. Is the Industry Ready? Emma interned at Arch Re.

Third Place: Matt Ricciardelli (Boston College) took Third Place with his paper entitled:  The Future of Crypto Insurance. Matt interned at Arch Re.

Honorable Mention: Michael Taylor (Binghamton University) was awarded Honorable Mention for his essay entitled:  Beyond Conventional Coverage: Beyond Conventional Coverage: The Power and Potential of Parametric Insurance. Michael interned at Trans Re.

Honorable Mention:  Daigeona Guinn (Faulkner University)  also received Honorable Mention for their paper entitled: Navigating Challenges and Triumphs: Black Professionals in Insurance.  Daigeona interned at Arch Re.

Thanks to the generosity of our members, a total of $15,500 was distributed to these awardees among our largest pool of participants in a number of years.

For more information regarding the Scholars Program or becoming a member of the IRUA, please contact Jerry Wallis, IRUA Executive Director at: jwallis@irua.org.