UHD Student Ricardo Melchor Receives Award
Davies College of Business Junior Wins Student Engagement Scholarship
By Sheryl E. Taylor
UHD's very own Ricardo Melchor, an insurance and risk management junior in the Marilyn Davies College of Business has been awarded the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) Society Student Engagement Program scholarship to be presented at the 2019 CPCU Annual Meeting in New Orleans this September.
As a scholarship awardee, he is also a member of an elite group of students eligible to compete in the Student Engagement Competition, in which he, along with a fellow UHD student, will form a team and write a paper on a case study. The three top finalist teams will then present their papers at the annual meeting to compete for cash prizes.
"Being able to attend the 2019 CPCU Annual Meeting is a great opportunity to learn more about the industry," said Melchor. "Becoming an IRM major has afforded me the opportunity to advance my professional development and increased opportunities to apply for prestigious scholarships. This award would not have been possible without the support of my professors, director and mentors.
I cannot wait to share what I learn at this meeting with my peers at UHD."
Melchor expects to complete a Bachelor of Business Administration in Insurance and Risk Management next fall. He has participated in many industry events and is a member of the UHD Kappa Alpha chapter of Gamma Iota Sigma—the international risk management, insurance and actuarial science collegiate fraternity that promotes and sustains student interest in the insurance industry while equipping students with the resources, skills, and opportunities required to be successful in the insurance industry upon graduation.
“We are proud that Ricardo will be representing UHD at the CPCU Annual meeting,” said Priscilla Oehlert, director of the Insurance & Risk Management Center at UHD. “Our partnership with various industry associations and businesses is a vital component of our students’ ultimate success in their careers, and the CPCU Society is recognized internationally as the gold standard of property-casualty education. We also wish him great success in the Student Engagement competition."
The University of Houston-Downtown (UHD) is the second-largest university in Houston and has served the educational needs of the nation’s fourth-largest city since 1974. As one of four distinct public universities in the University of Houston System, UHD is a comprehensive, four-year university led by President Loren J. Blanchard. Annually, UHD educates approximately 14,000 students, boasts more than 66,000 alumni, and offers 45 bachelor’s degrees, 12 master’s degrees, and 19 online programs within four colleges: Marilyn Davies College of Business, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, College of Public Service, and College of Sciences and Technology. UHD has one of the lowest tuition rates in Texas.
U.S. News and World Report ranked UHD among the nation’s Best Online Bachelor’s Programs for Applied Administration and Best Online Master’s Programs in Criminal Justice, as well as a Top Performer in Social Mobility. The Wall Street Journal/College Pulse ranked UHD one of the best colleges in the U.S. for its 2024 rankings, with notable distinctions: No. 1 for diversity (tied) and No. 3 for student experience. The University is designated as a Hispanic-Serving Institution, a Minority-Serving Institution, and a Military Friendly School. For more information on the University of Houston-Downtown, visit uhd.edu.
