PRMIA scholarship recipient Jialin Zhao

Jialin Zhao, a third-year doctoral student in management science at IIT Stuart School of Business, was recently selected to receive a $1,000 scholarship from the 2012 recipient of the Professional Risk Managers’ International Association (PRMIA) Higher Standard Award.

John Bilson, associate dean and professor of finance at IIT Stuart, recommended that Zhao apply for the scholarship based on her recent publication in the Journal of Computational and Applied Mathematics and her research in options pricing.

She was selected for the scholarship by the 2012 PRMIA Higher Standard Award recipient Colin Lawrence, who is director and strategic risk advisor for the Risks Specialists Division of the Bank of England Prudential Regulation Authority. Lawrence also serves as vice chair of the PRMIA board of directors and is a former acting chair. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, where Bilson was a member of his dissertation committee.

The PRMIA Higher Standard Award is granted to an individual who has significantly impacted the global practice of risk management, provided a substantial contribution to the mission of PRMIA and its members, and shows an ongoing commitment to the highest standards of the profession. As part of the award, the recipient is given the opportunity to select a student in the field of risk management to receive an award of $1,000 to be donated by PRMIA to the school of the student’s choice for further education for the student.

Zhao commented that she was able to discuss her research on options pricing in regime-switching models with Lawrence, who provided valuable feedback and suggestions for further inquiry. They plan to continue to collaborate on this research moving forward.

PRMIA is a non-profit professional association of nearly 90,000 members worldwide. PRMIA’s mission is to provide a free and open forum for the promotion of sound risk management standards and practices globally.