About Us

Joan T. Schmit is the American Family Insurance Distinguished Chair of Risk Management in the Wisconsin School of Business at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she has been on the faculty since 1988. Schmit also serves as an affiliate faculty member in the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin, and in the insurance program at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland. Prior to joining the faculty at UW-Madison, Professor Schmit spent four years on the faculty at the University of South Carolina following completion of her Ph.D. at Indiana University. She received her BBA and MBA from the Wisconsin School of Business and holds both the CPCU and ARM designations.

Professor Schmit served as the Chair of the Risk and Insurance Department in the Wisconsin School of Business from 2014-2022. From 2008 to 2012, Professor Schmit served in the Dean’s office, holding the positions of Senior Associate Dean, Vice Dean, and Interim Dean.

Professor Schmit has published extensively in insurance and legal journals. Among her areas of expertise include insurance regulation, enterprise risk management, and the interaction of law and economics in an insurance and risk management context. She is a Past President of the American Risk and Insurance Association as well as the Risk Theory Society.

Joan is a lead with the Creative Destruction Lab-Risk, focusing on the Risk stream. With a goal of “transforming society’s ability to manage risk,” the stream is designed for seed-stage organizations with ventures focused on risk. More is found here: https://www.creativedestructionlab.com/streams/risk/

Additionally, Joan serves as an Editor for the Journal of Risk and Insurance and is active in the International Insurance Society. She also holds the designation of Research Fellow with the China Center for Insurance and Social Security Research at Peking University.

The program in risk management and insurance at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has existed since 1938 and currently is ranked second among all programs in the United States. Our alumni list is long and of very high quality, including insurance company, brokerage, and consulting executives in both life and non-life business.