HWS News
18 June 2018 Three Join Aon
Professional services firm Aon plc has hired three 2018 HWS graduates to positions at its New York City headquarters. Nancy Preston Tansill '18 will serve as an account specialist in the company's Small and Medium Enterprises Group; James Mula '18, an associate broker for the Cyber Solutions Team; and Anne O'Brien '18, an associate broker with the National Casualty Department. Aon provides risk, retirement and health consulting services.
Tansill, who graduated cum laude in economics with a minor in psychology, was introduced to Aon through the Colleges' Finance Experience program in New York City and went on to hold an internship last summer with Aon's Transaction Liabilities Group, which focuses on account management for the company's small and mid-sized clients.
Captain of the William Smith club ice hockey team, Tansill says her liberal arts background equipped her with the skillset to secure the position. She says courses such as Behavior Finance, taught by Assistant Professor of Economics Warren Hamilton, were particularly influential. The course dealt with both her areas of academic interest, finance and psychology, focusing on the behaviors and tendencies of individuals in the fields of economics and finance.
Mula's passion for finance dates to his childhood with his father working in the insurance field. "I've seen how interesting a career in the field can be," he says. "The insurance industry helps people return to work after storms and restores their health after injury: who wouldn't want to be a part of that?"
A political science major with a history minor, Mula interned for two summers in Chicago with Aon's Financial Services Group, working for the Directors and Officers Team as well as the Cyber Solutions Team. "Aon has a program called the Aon Launch Program, which offers employment for interns who have demonstrated an aptitude and interest in the industry," he says.
Like Tansill, O'Brien participated in the NYC Finance Experience, which landed her an internship at Aon. O'Brien graduated cum laude in economics with a mathematics minor, and was a four-year standout on the Heron golf team.
O'Brien credits courses such as Political Economy with Assistant Professor of Economics Gul Unal and Applied Linear Algebra with Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science Yan Hao's as being important to her professional development.
"All three graduates say that their professional goals are to stay at Aon for the foreseeable future and take advantage of the company's corporate flexibility. They encourage their employees to explore other departments and pursue their career goals in every way," says O'Brien.
