About IRMII

The Institute for Risk Management and Insurance Innovation (IRMII) is a multidisciplinary research and innovation hub, bringing together investigators and industry professionals to develop creative solutions for managing the financial risks arising from a growing number of threats, ranging from extreme weather to cybersecurity, faced by North Carolina, the United States, and the world. Extreme weather events cost the world more than $500 billion per year. At the same time, losses associated with cybercrime are rising at exponential rates, and the COVID pandemic resulted in the world’s first “trillion dollar” loss event. In the quest to find new and more effective means of combatting the adverse financial impacts of these intermittent and unpredictable events, the risk management and insurance industries represent a critical first line of defense. The UNC Institute for Risk Management and Insurance Innovation provides a platform where researchers, thought leaders, and industry professionals collaborate to strengthen this line of defense and advance new solutions to mitigate these evolving risks.

In addition to creating new knowledge, the students supported by IRMII will go on to enter the workforce in positions that will benefit the rapidly expanding risk management and insurance sector. Research in this area requires the integration of knowledge and skills from a range of diverse fields, including engineering, natural sciences, business, economics, finance, data science, and policy. As such, IRMII brings together researchers from across the UNC-Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) campus to provide students with multidisciplinary training that will prepare them for productive careers in a vitally important and evolving industry. Part of this multidisciplinary training is nicely packaged in the Minor for Risk Management, designed with industry input to prepare students to enter the insurance industry workforce and immediately make an impact.

IRMII will be a powerful force for new ideas and new talent to bring strategic solutions to the risk management and insurance industry. These efforts will help make the citizens of North Carolina, the United States, and the world more resilient places.

A Message From Our Director

Welcome to the Institute for Risk Management and Insurance Innovation. We focus on interdisciplinary research and training that lead to better understanding and management of financial losses resulting from perils ranging from extreme weather to pandemics to cyber-attacks.  Our goals are to prepare the next generation of risk management and insurance professionals and to develop novel solutions for society’s growing number of current and emerging threats. Please feel free to contact us as we are always looking for new problems and opportunities.

Dr. Greg Characklis
Director, UNC Institute for Risk Management and Insurance Innovation