American International Group, Inc. (NYSE:AIG) today announced an initial $4 million investment with Clemson University to develop a risk engineering and analytics center and to establish the Robert Benmosche Endowed Professorship in Risk Engineering and Systems Analytics, in honor of the company’s former president and chief executive officer.

The center, which will be based on Clemson’s South Carolina campus, will expand AIG’s engineering capabilities, complementing the company’s three-year investment in hiring 500 risk engineers and building an engineering and analytics center of excellence in Bangalore, India. AIG and Clemson will continue to explore ways to expand their partnership and collaboration.

The endowed professorship will develop curriculum and educational programs in the field of risk engineering and analytics, cultivate scientific investigation and research, recruit world-class faculty, and create marketable technologies that advance the field.

The partnership will draw on Clemson’s vast engineering and research capabilities as well as AIG’s data and risk expertise, developed over its more than 95 years as a global insurer. The center will enhance the understanding of risk and ways to mitigate it. Its mission will be to create a next-generation workforce skilled in risk engineering and systems analytics, develop innovative technology-based tools to mitigate risk exposure, and facilitate the use of big data to make critical decisions.

“Our relationship with Clemson furthers the substantial investments AIG is making in technology, data insights, and engineering to partner with our clients in new ways. It’s a critical part of AIG’s strategy to serve as a valued advisor to clients who are managing increasingly complex risks,” said John Doyle, Chief Executive Officer, Commercial Insurance, AIG. “The endowed professorship honors Bob Benmosche, who recognized early the tremendous value AIG can offer clients through engineering and analytics.”

Key areas of research for the risk engineering and analytics center will include:

  • Improving cybersecurity to make systems less vulnerable to natural and manmade disasters
  • Catastrophe modeling
  • Supply chain and logistics risk
  • Loss modeling and tool development
  • Dynamic pricing models for emerging countries
  • Predictive risk modeling
  • A coastal resilience initiative focused on risks from hurricanes, floods, and other natural disasters
  • Enhanced capacity to analyze unstructured data to benchmark frequent loss events and causes

Clemson will provide loss-prevention training with real-world and virtual reality-based exercises. The center will train analysts to join members of AIG’s loss-prevention team, with a special emphasis on understanding risks and how best to prevent and mitigate them.

In addition, online curricula will be created offering graduate certificates in risk engineering, systems analytics, catastrophe modeling, and enterprise risk management. Courses will include decision-making under uncertainty, performance assessment of deteriorating systems, and post-disaster response and recovery. The certificates can be combined to meet requirements for a master’s degree now under development.

“We are pleased to team with AIG,” Clemson President James P. Clements said. “We have the opportunity to play a leadership role in research and education that can save lives and property. This important work will directly benefit multiple stakeholders, including Clemson’s students and faculty and AIG’s clients.”

Dr. James Martin, the center’s director and chair of Clemson’s Glenn Department of Civil Engineering, said that AIG will benefit from the school’s intellectual capital, highly-regarded faculty, and top-ranked supercomputing power of its renowned Palmetto Cluster computer.

“In our role as global game-changers, the College of Engineering and Science is on a continuous mission to partner with the world’s top institutions,” Martin added. “That is why we are excited to launch this bold, innovative, and dynamic partnership with AIG. We believe it is just the start of an enterprise that will not only provide new opportunities for AIG and Clemson, but will also transform the field of risk engineering, and analysis.”

American International Group, Inc. (AIG) is a leading global insurance organization serving customers in more than 100 countries and jurisdictions. AIG companies serve commercial, institutional, and individual customers through one of the most extensive worldwide property-casualty networks of any insurer. In addition, AIG companies are leading providers of life insurance and retirement services in the United States. AIG common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Additional information about AIG can be found at www.aig.com | YouTube: www.youtube.com/aig | Twitter: @AIGinsurance | LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/aig

AIG is the marketing name for the worldwide property-casualty, life and retirement, and general insurance operations of American International Group, Inc. For additional information, please visit our website at www.aig.com. All products and services are written or provided by subsidiaries or affiliates of American International Group, Inc. Products or services may not be available in all countries, and coverage is subject to actual policy language. Non-insurance products and services may be provided by independent third parties. Certain property-casualty coverages may be provided by a surplus lines insurer. Surplus lines insurers do not generally participate in state guaranty funds, and insureds are therefore not protected by such funds.