James R. Garven holds the William H. Wright, Jr. Endowed Chair for Financial Services. Prior to joining the LSU faculty in 1998, Dr. Garven held faculty appointments at the Pennsylvania State University and University of Texas at Austin business schools, and also served as Vice President of Economic Analysis and Product Research for InsWeb Corporation. Dr. Garven's teaching approach is geared toward building deductive problem solving skills. He views risk management and insurance as an applied field within finance, and emphasizes the convergence of finance and insurance principles in his teaching and research. Increasingly, risk managers are needed who are well grounded in finance as well as risk management and insurance, since firms must be concerned with financial as well as operational risks.
Underwriters decide whether to provide insurance to applicants seeking coverage.
An underwriter evaluates an applicant's exposure to risk and decides whether an applicant meets an insurer's standards. An underwriter may also become involved in setting prices for insurance applicants. Consequently insurers need well-trained investment managers who understand financial as well as insurance principles. Adjusters negotiate insurance claims with people and organizations have experienced insured losses. The adjuster is responsible for reaching a claim settlement that is fair to all parties.