Department of Finance, Banking and Insurance

Joseph F. Freeman Distinguished Professor of Insurance

Dr. Lori Medders joined Appalachian State University in August, 2017, and serves as the Joseph F. Freeman Distinguished Professor of Insurance for the Walker College as well as the Director of the Walker College Honors Program. Prior to joining ASU, she was on faculty at Florida State University (risk and insurance, 2009-2017), Georgia State University (risk and insurance, 1999-2008), and Georgia Southern University (finance, 1994-1998).

• Ph.D. in Business Administration - Risk Management & Insurance, Georgia State University (1995)
• M.S., Risk Management & Insurance, Georgia State University (1994)
• B.S. in Commerce & Business, magna cum laude, University of Alabama (1990)

Dr. Medders serves on the Board of Directors for the American Association of Water Distribution and Management and chairs its Education Committee (2016-present). She also serves as Chair of the American Risk & Insurance Association's Risk & Insurance Teaching Society (2021-present), an international organization devoted to excellence in the teaching-learning of risk economics and related disciplines. Additionally, Dr. Medders is a past president of the Southern Risk and Insurance Association (2016-17) that supports research on topics related to risk and insurance, as well as past Chair of the Florida Commission on Hurricane Loss Methodology (2013-17).

Dr. Medders has many years teaching, research and speaking experience, and has taught in excess of 30 distinct academic risk-related courses, has served as an invited speaker on risk-related topics at more than 50 industry and civic events, and has published extensively in both the academic and industry press (averaging at least once per year since 1995). She has been the recipient of multiple awards for her research, teaching and service from her college, university, research organizations, civic associations, and industry.

A business risk consultant for more than 25 years, Lori has direct work experience in investment advisory and analytics, risk modeling and decision analytics, insurance coverage renewals and disputes, and risk management program review. She lives just outside Boone, NC and enjoys hiking, both in the local area and internationally.

Recent Publications:

"Securitizing Pandemic-Risk Insurance," Risk Management & Insurance Review (forthcoming in 2023)

"Gender X and Auto Insurance: Is Gender Rating Unfairly Discriminatory?" Journal of Insurance Regulation (2021)

"The Impact of /hurricane Mitigation Features and Inspection Information on House Prices," Journal of Real Estate Finance & Economics (2018)

"Evaluating the Public Financing for Florida's Wind Risk," Risk Management & Insurance Review (2018)

"State and Local Policy Instruments for Promotion of Catastrophe Mitigation" Journal of Insurance Regulation (2017)

"Personality Traits and Thinking Dispositions: Why Individual Differences Call for 'Smart' Emergency Messaging," Journal of Business Continuity & Emergency Planning (2017)

"The Effects of Revealed Information on Catastrophe Loss Projection Models' Characterization of Risk: Damage Vulnerability Evidence from Florida" Risk Analysis (2016)

Teaching:

FIN 4600 - Commercial Insurance; FIN 4700 - Insurance Operations; FIN 4950 - Enterprise Risk Management; Honors 2515 - In Search of the Perfect Decision

Research Interests:

Accessing risk capital, catastrophe risk finance, economic resilience, global risk challenges, psychology and economics of decisions under uncertainty, reputational/crisis risk management, risk modeling, strategic and enterprise risk management