Peggy Accordino, chairwoman of the Spencer Educational Foundation, with the winners of the 2013 VCU/Spencer RMI Challenge from Temple University (l to r): Pete Adonizio, Kyle Enderle, Gina Ross and Mike Cross

The next generation of risk managers took center stage when earlier this week, students from seven schools traveled to Richmond, Virginia to compete in the second annual Virginia Commonwealth University RISC/Spencer RMI Challenge. The students were given a complex risk management case study that centered around the upcoming Richmond 2015 Union Cyclist International, a world championship bicycle road racing event organized by Union Cycliste Internationale, sports cycling’s governing body.

The students, who had studied the case for six weeks prior to the competition, each gave a presentation to a panel of risk management experts who then selected the top three teams to present in front of the more than 150 industry professionals who attended VCU’s Risk and Insurance Study Center’s (RISC) Trends Conference.

Temple University’s team, which included Pete Adonizio, Mike Cross, Kyle Enderle and Gina Ross, came out on top and took home the $4,000 prize. Teams from Illinois State University and Virginia Commonwealth University (last year’s winner)  finished second and third respectively and received $3,000 and $2,000.

Other schools that competed in the challenge included Ball State University, St. John’s University,  the University of Alabama and the University of Georgia.

The competition was sponsored by the Spencer Educational Foundation, which provides scholarships for risk management and insurance students.

Students from Ball State University, Illinois State University, St. John’s University, Temple University, University of Alabama, University of Georgia and Virginia Commonwealth University, participated in this year’s challenge.