Christopher E. Mandel is a assistant professor and faculty member of the College of Business, at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University where he teaches risk-related courses. He has served as the former Chief Risk Advisor to USI Southwest Insurance Services, Mr. Mandel retired twice, first as Chief Risk Officer, USAA Group (10 years) and later as SVP, Strategic Solutions for Sedgwick and the Founding Director of the Sedgwick Institute (8 years). He remains the founder, president and managing consultant of Excellence in Risk Management, LLC., and was also EVP, Professional Services for rPM3 Solution, LLC. both independent consulting firms specializing in enterprise and strategic risk management and related services. At USAA, he designed, developed and led the award-winning enterprise-wide risk management program, which included serving as President and Vice Chairman, Enterprise Indemnity CIC, Inc., and Arizona domiciled captive insurance company. Mr. Mandel has more than 35 years of experience in insurance and large global corporate risk management. He has served the Risk and insurance Management Society, (RIMS) as Chief Risk Officer (2003-04) and President, 2002-2003 and in various capacities over the years including member of the Board/Executive Council from 1998 to 2004. He holds or has held board appointments to many diverse organizations within the risk industry. He was elected a founding member of Risk Who’s Who in 2008 and teaches for the Risk Management Society, the National Alliance, and the International Center for Captive Insurance Education.
Mr. Mandel received his B.S. in Business Management from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and a master’s in business administration from George Mason University. Between these university programs, he was conferred the CRM (Canadian Risk Management - 2018), RIMS Certified Risk Management Professional (CRMP) (‘17), C31000 (’17), RIMS Fellow (RF – ‘13), the CCSA (‘07), CPCU (‘87), ARM-E (‘90/’15) and AIC (‘82) designations and is a graduate of Every Nation Leadership Institute (ENLI). He was conferred the Certificate in Risk Governance by the Director’s Chief Risk Officer Institute (DCRO) and continues to be a frequent industry speaker, teacher and author. He was named Risk Manager of the Year – 2004, in 2008 was voted in as a member of Risk Who’s Who (RWW) and in 2016 received RIMS’ highest honor of the Goodell Award for lifetime achievement. He is recognized by his peers as a thought leader in ERM and related fields.
