Christine Berry wears many hats. She is the Kim Sledge Endowed Chair and Professor
of Risk Management and Insurance, director of the Small Business Risk Management Institute, and program coordinator
for Risk Management and Insurance in the College of Business and Social Sciences.
After a five-month search process, her husband, Dr. Ronald Berry, was named the ninth
president of the University of Louisiana Monroe, and with that announcement, Christine
Berry, Ph.D., added First Lady to her long list of titles.
During the presidential candidate interview process, Berry stated, 鈥淲hen people ask
me where I鈥檓 from, I say, Monroe, Louisiana, and I didn鈥檛 always know how to answer
that question. I鈥檝e lived in 11 different states and for no more than six-and-a-half
years until I came to Monroe. I am going on my 20th year now, so Monroe is home and
麻豆果冻传媒 is family.鈥�
Where are you from?
鈥淲here are you from?鈥� is a difficult question for Berry to answer.
Christine Taylor Berry moved around a lot as a child and young adult. Berry鈥檚 father
was a railroader, and she and her family lived in 11 different states, usually only
staying in one place for one or two years.
Berry was born in West Virginia and moved to Kentucky when she was two years old,
so her earliest memories were in Kentucky. From Kentucky, the family moved to Toledo,
Ohio. At the end of third grade, her father told their family they were moving to
Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, the town where the Groundhog Day tradition takes place.
Berry remembers telling her friends she was moving again. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to keep friends
when they know you are moving,鈥� she stated.
But just before her family moved to Punxsutawney, her father was transferred to Michigan,
and they lived there for eight months.
Years ago, if people asked me where I鈥檓 from, I would usually say Cincinnati because
that is where I went to high school.
鈥淢ichigan was really fun because my family had a cabin in Canada, and we were closer
to the cabin in Michigan. One of the best parts of my childhood was going to this
cabin every summer. You actually had to boat an hour to it in northern Ontario. No
electricity, outhouses. It was really a fishing camp, but we used it as a family vacation
spot,鈥� said Berry.
From Michigan, the family moved to Maryland for 10 months, then to Cincinnati, Ohio.
鈥淵ears ago, if people asked me where I鈥檓 from, I would usually say Cincinnati because
that is where I went to high school,鈥� stated Berry. In high school, Berry was involved
in the marching band and orchestra. 鈥淚 was very much into music. I played handbells
for our church choir. I was in the marching band and orchestra. I played the flute,
piccolo, and even cymbals one year, and most of my friends were in the marching band.鈥�
Berry鈥檚 family was avid sports fans, with season tickets to the Cincinnati Reds and
Purdue football. Theme parks were also a big part of her childhood.
鈥淚 was a huge Cincinnati Reds fan ever since we lived in Kentucky. I loved going to
baseball games and King鈥檚 Island. I am a huge amusement park buff, and now Ron and
I are season pass holders at Walt Disney World and Universal Studios,鈥� stated Berry.
鈥淪chool has always been an anchor for me鈥� Because Berry鈥檚 family moved so frequently,
keeping friends was difficult. 鈥淪chool was my identity,鈥� stated Berry.
In the middle of her senior year of high school, after living in Cincinnati for six-and-a-half
years, Berry鈥檚 father is transferred to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Berry attended a
large high school in Pittsburgh. The best thing about the move was the variety of
course offerings at this high school.
鈥淚 buried myself in classes,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 remember taking political science, psychology,
and a literature class called satire and death, and French. School has always been
an anchor for me.鈥� After the move, college applications were not a priority. It was
the spring of Berry鈥檚 senior year when she and her father toured the campus of West
Virginia University, where she enrolled the following fall.
She felt at home on WVU鈥檚 campus and loved the courses she took there. 鈥� I loved being
a part of college,鈥� Berry said.
Berry started out as a political science major thinking she would attend law school.
She then switched to psychology, and eventually ended up majoring in finance.
鈥淗onestly, I didn鈥檛 like my finance classes much, but at WVU there was an insurance
track, and I loved my insurance classes,鈥� said Berry. 鈥淚t was the perfect mix of money,
law, psychology, and how people behave and manage risk, and I just fell in love with
that.鈥�
Terry Rose, Ph.D., was Berry鈥檚 professor in the finance program, and he was doing
a presentation on the 鈥淐ost of Oncology鈥� for the WVU medical school. He gave Berry
and her classmates an assignment to do a research paper on the cost of oncology.
鈥淗e loved my paper and encouraged me to go to grad school,鈥� stated Berry.
After graduating from WVU with her bachelor鈥檚 degree in finance, Berry enrolled in
the doctoral program for risk management and insurance at Florida State University.
Like most doctoral students, her original concept for her dissertation changed. She
ended up researching the impact of attorney representation on worker鈥檚 compensation
claims.
After graduating with her Ph.D., Berry moved to St. Cloud, Minnesota, to begin teaching
as a faculty member at St. Cloud State University.
Faculty to private industry
Berry was a faculty member at St. Cloud State University for two years. While there,
she had the opportunity to teach social and health insurance and property and liability
insurance.
鈥淎t some point, I got a call from a headhunter looking for someone to work with this
reinsurance broker on special projects, and I was like 鈥榳hat about me?鈥� I had always
been fascinated by reinsurance,鈥� stated Berry.
Reinsurance is similar to a lender selling a mortgage. The policyholder will still
have a policy with the original insurance company, but the company sells off a portion
of the exposure to a different company to diversify risk.
鈥淭his is done constantly in the industry,鈥� Berry said.
Berry left her faculty position to work for E.W. Blanch and Benfield Group in Minnesota
and later in Dallas, Texas.
鈥淚 went from a nice little office to a cubicle, and no one called me 鈥榙octor,鈥� and
I was like 鈥榳hat did I do?鈥欌�� Berry laughed.
At E.W. Blanch and Benfield, Berry led an internationally recognized reinsurance training
program. Berry helped develop courses and professional development for insurance and
reinsurance employees.
Finding 鈥渉ome鈥� at 麻豆果冻传媒
While at E.W. Blanch, Berry visited many different campuses as a guest lecturer, one
of those campuses was 麻豆果冻传媒.
In 2001, a faculty member from 麻豆果冻传媒 called Berry and asked if she was interested in
taking over the Risk Management and Insurance program. She accepted, and in August 2001, Berry moved to Monroe from Dallas with
her one-year-old son Michael.
鈥淚 moved here not knowing a soul, with a one-year-old,鈥� said Berry, 鈥淚 could not find
a good daycare, and someone mentioned the co-op, now the Emily Williamson Laboratory
School. That鈥檚 where Michael went, and we loved it there.鈥�
Berry felt the pressure of being a mother, faculty member, and program coordinator,
along with the other responsibilities she had and having to juggle everything at the
same time.
鈥淥ne of the biggest problems I find is that women are socialized to believe we have
to do everything,鈥� Berry said.
Berry and President Dr. Ronald Berry met during her interview process. She remembers
when she was moving into her office and bringing boxes upstairs, Ronald volunteered
help.
鈥淢y dad was helping me move and he said to me, 鈥楬e seems really nice,鈥� and I was like
鈥榥o, but he might be a good babysitter,鈥欌�� laughed Berry.
Their first date was Sept. 14, 2001, and they were married two years later in the
summer of 2003.
鈥淲e went to a justice of the peace. This was my second marriage, so we wanted something
small. The justice of the peace was also in a tile store. Fortunately, the tile store
had a display with a small fireplace mantel so it was a good place to take pictures鈥�
recalled Berry.
In 2004, the Berrys had a year of highs and lows. She was pregnant with their daughter
Alea, and Ronald鈥檚 beloved mother fell ill and passed away before she got to meet
Alea.
鈥淔ortunately, his mother got to see him get married,鈥� Berry said tearfully.
A month after Alea was born, Ronald Berry started as dean of the College of Business
Administration.
Over the years, the Berrys have had the opportunity to leave Monroe to pursue other
positions in leadership at different institutions. They chose to stay because 鈥淢onroe
had become like home and 麻豆果冻传媒 was where we belonged,鈥� stated Berry.
I have never worked as hard as I do as the program director of the RMI program and
I have never loved a job more than this job. I am dedicated to the RMI program and
serving our students.
Professor, program coordinator, First Lady Berry has grown Risk Management and Insurance
into a nationally recognized program with students securing extremely competitive
internships and jobs all over the world, from Baton Rouge to Houston, Texas, to London,
England.
Since 2015, the Risk Management and Insurance program has grown enrollment from 69
students to its current enrollment of about 125. Students have gotten jobs post-graduation
at AmWINS Group, Inc., CRC Inc., Liberty Mutual Insurance, All Risks, Louisiana Worker鈥檚
Comp Corp., and many more.
鈥淚 have never worked as hard as I do as the program director of the RMI program and
I have never loved a job more than this job. I am dedicated to the RMI program and
serving our students,鈥� Berry stated, 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 so important to think about the
whole student and not guide them down a path you set, but help them set the right
path for them while giving them the tools to do it.鈥�
Berry will continue teaching and leading the RMI program but is looking forward to
her role as First Lady.
鈥淚 really look forward to getting out and telling the story of 麻豆果冻传媒 and meeting alumni
and hearing their stories. I want to learn more about all of our other academic programs
at 麻豆果冻传媒,鈥� said Berry, 鈥淩on and I are a team and we are ready to serve 麻豆果冻传媒 and the entire
Northeast Louisiana region.鈥�
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