Teresa Chan is the Director of the Master’s in Insurance Management program at Columbia University. She launched the program in 2019 after 27 years of insurance industry experience in legal, product, and business development. Prior to joining Columbia, Teresa was an advisor on the formation of MGU start-ups funded by Willis Group that leverage emerging technological capabilities to underwrite specialized markets on digital platforms and a consultant for energy performance warranty insurance. Teresa has a J.D. from Fordham University and a B.S. in Operations Research from the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Columbia University. She has been recognized by Business Insurance as one of “25 Women to Watch” and by ReActions Magazine as one of the “Top Insurance Women.” In today’s episode of the In The Know podcast, Chris Hampshire and Teresa take a look at the value of giving back through insurance education. Teresa highlights her experience with transitioning from the corporate world to starting up an educational program at Columbia, the current state of the industry DEI, and her satisfying experience as a female leader in insurance.

 

These onsite episodes of the In The Know podcast are brought to you by Gallagher Bassett.

 

Key Takeaways

• Teresa highlights her career path from engineer to law school and eventually insurance.

• Characteristics of the insurance industry that appealed to Teresa initially.

• Teresa’s approach to learning about a new topic, including product development.

• Top learning experiences from 27 years of experience.

• Bringing innovation to the new Insurance Management program at Columbia.

• Transitioning from a stable corporate job to starting up an educational program.

• The current state of DEI in the insurance industry compared to the onset of Teresa’s career.

• Teresa’s experience as a female leader in the insurance industry.

• Strategic tactics to address the talent gap in the industry.

• A five-year look at the future of the insurance industry.