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On September 10, the UCA College of Business welcomed Yanis Fernandes, Director of Risk Management for Mohawk Industries, to serve as our 2026 Risk Manager on Campus. He shared his 25 years of experience with multiple classes and student organizations, and began his visit by serving as the keynote speaker at a luncheon for students, UCA faculty, and IRM professionals in the community. 

The 51ÇàÂ¥ (UCA) Insurance and Risk Management (IRM) program was awarded a grant from the Spencer Educational Foundation, supporting this key Experiential Learning opportunity that allows UCA students the privilege to learn and network with a Spencer Risk Management professional. The Spencer Foundation has long supported UCA’s annual RMOC event, bringing the last 5 to the campus through their grant program.

Over 55 students, industry professionals, and UCA faculty and staff attended the luncheon, including Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Jimmy Harris, who challenged students to seize opportunities to gain experience, such as learning from a guest of Yanis Fernandes’ caliber and networking with the insurance professionals in attendance. Harris also recognized the value of UCA’s Insurance Program, which recently surpassed its 25th year educating students in Arkansas as one of the only Insurance and Risk Management programs in the region.

During the luncheon, Yanis spoke about the complex areas and opportunities in the IRM field, the many areas of risk he has experienced, tasks he does day-to-day, and best practices to mitigate risk while advising clients. Describing the industry as “the science of accountability,” Yanis shared about past economic impacts on the insurance field, speaking of significant events he endured as an IRM professional, like the Y2K “Dot Com” Recession, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the “Great Recession” (2007-2009), COVID-19, and the more recent recession and inflation. Yanis transitioned from significant past impacts into emerging topics like cyber-extortion, coin mining, remote work exposure, and nuclear verdicts. Finally, he addressed the students in attendance directly with advice and benefits of becoming part of the IRM industry.

“My advice to you, as you’re taking these courses in risk management, is make it a point in how you get to ‘the letters’ behind the name [referencing certifications and designations professionals seek like CRM, ARM, CIC, or CLU],” Yanis shared with students before closing.

“This is a great program that prepares you for the field, and those ‘letters’ indicate your credibility. Employers may hire you because of those ‘letters.’ I advise you to to earn your education and those further credentials now, even if its only one, because they can increase your career potential earlier in your career. Prepare early for the endless opportunities available to you in this industry.”

After lunch, when the professionals returned to their jobs, Yanis ate a few bites from the lunch buffet, with minutes to his next presentation. A couple dozen more students gathered for the university’s chapter Gamma Iota Sigma meeting, and for this special guest, the chapter president led a “Fireside Chat” with Yanis, a much more informal opportunity for students to get to know Yanis and ask questions. This time, Yanis mentioned his qualifications, but focused on his difficult journey to success and why education is important. He explained the hardships of leaving his native country to seek higher education in the U.S., and his steady focus as he tried multiple areas of study, finally settling on the risk industry. Interested students voiced questions from around the room during the brief chat. His answers frequently emphasized practical ways for the students to increase their credibility and advised them to seek opportunities and experience.

Yanis finished his visit to UCA by speaking in the College of Business auditorium to students gathered from combined classes taught by UCA Insurance Center Director Ivan Hudson, who organized Yanis’ visit to UCA, and Dr. Tim Bisping, Economics Professor and Dean of the UCA College of Business. As Yanis offered one real-world example after another, the class turned from a presentation to a question-and-answer session.

One student raised a question about how he successfully left one job for another and moved between the many areas of insurance and risk management. “People are forming an impression of you: how you speak, how you treat people. They’re observing you and your skills, your character. Employers look for personalities that work well in positions, and you don’t want to burn bridges in this industry because of the many connections people have. Even oceans away, people talk.”

Students asked Yanis how to handle new “threats” or significant career-impacting changes, such as AI, an ailing job market, a weather disaster, another worldwide pandemic, or other events beyond preparation or control. On this topic, Yanis is both personally and professionally qualified to offer advice. As a resident of New Orleans, he worked for Entergy electric utility company from 2004 to 2013 and personally experienced the devastation when two catastrophic hurricanes struck his home city in 2005. In New Orleans alone, killed approximately 800 people, damaged or destroyed more than 134,000 structures, and caused an estimated $16.9 billion in damage. The storm ultimately resulted in more than 1,800 deaths and $81 billion in damages throughout the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.  then swept across the region less than 30 days later, breaching New Orleans’ since-repaired levees and resulting in more deaths and destruction in the region.

Yanis did not focus on his personal experience of Katrina and Rita in earlier presentations and only briefly, once in the class, connected his residence in New Orleans from ’04 to ’13 to the 2005 Hurricanes. However, his swift answer to the student’s question was particularly meaningful for those who recall the weather disasters of 2005: “You must be willing to adapt and evolve, learn your way through, as the world changes.”

On a lighter note, when asked about his favorite part of the industry, Yanis said with a slight chuckle, “It keeps you on your feet. Many of these things that result in claims will never happen the same way again.”

During the three total sessions during his time as UCA’s 2026 Risk Manager on Campus, Yanis provided students, faculty, and IRM professionals with countless practical ways to adapt in life and career, sharing dozens of examples and takeaways applicable for emerging and seasoned professionals in any industry. One of his final slides said, “act in good faith and conscience; sustain relationships, personal and professional; seek value-added projects, continuous learning, professional training, and networking opportunities; optimize technology; and avoid complacency.”

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MORE ABOUT YANIS FERNANDES

Yanis has over 25 years of direct experience in the field of risk management. He is currently serving as Director of Risk for Mohawk Industries at their world headquarters in Calhoun, Georgia.

Yanis’ first full-time position after college began with an insurance adjuster/private investigator for a small outfit in Atlanta. Yanis later joined a reinsurance brokerage firm, Minet Re, known today as Aon. In the last 20 years, Yanis has had the privilege of working in Corporate Risk in a variety of industries – Retail (Home Depot), Electric Utility (Entergy), Aerospace (Sierra Nevada/Sierra Space), and presently, Flooring (Mohawk Industries). In his career, Yanis has led the resolution of multiple complex claims, including his role in managing a significant component of Hurricane Katrina and Rita in 2005, as well as other complex Workers’ Comp, Auto, and General Liability claims. He managed the Owner Controlled Insurance Programs and related claims. Yanis also led major marketing campaigns including technical briefings to global markets for placement of a multi-mission space program.

Yanis earned his Associate in Risk Management (ARM), Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) and the RIMS Certified Risk Management Professional (CRMP) designations. He continues to teach and learn while staying abreast of innovations and developing trends impacting the industry.

Born in the coastal city of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, Yanis’ family moved to Zambia when he was of elementary school age, where he completed his high school. Yanis then seized an opportunity for higher education to study in the US after being accepted at Georgia State, where he obtained his BBA in Risk Management and MBA in International Business.

Residing in Cartersville, Georgia, with his family, Yanis enjoys travel, the outdoors, hikes, and participates in 5Ks, 10ks, and the occasional Half. His number one passion is the sport of Badminton, which he plays competitively, and as often as his schedule allows.

Yanis directly supports a dump site Ministry in Nakuru, Kenya, which tends to the food and housing needs of the residents who live in the landfill vicinity, with a focus on educational pathways for children, to move them out of the poverty cycle. Yanis works on Habitat build projects in the Atlanta metro area as a volunteer.