The Risk & Insurance Management Society Inc. on Thursday named Loren Nickel, director of business risk and insurance at Google Inc., as the 2017 RIMS Risk Manager of the Year. 

The award will be presented to Mr. Nickel at a ceremonial breakfast and panel discussion at RIMS’ 2017 conference April 25 in Philadelphia, RIMS said in a statement.

Mr. Nickel joined Google in 2015 and is responsible for business risks that affects all Alphabet Inc. companies worldwide. With $90 billion in annual revenue, 72,000 employees and a current market cap of $579 billion, Alphabet Inc. is the parent company of Google and several other companies, according to the statement.

In his first year at the organization, Mr. Nickel focused on building the foundation for future risk management efforts, RIMS said in the statement. 

This included implementing of total cost of risk tracking system, an internal version of the best capital adequacy ratio used to rate its captive, a risk based monitoring system for emerging risks, a loss measurement system called the “actual versus expected” report, as well as creating a customized multi-line risk policy.

RIMS also announced this year’s Risk Management Honor Roll, which includes Benjamin Evans, executive director of risk management at University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia; Juliana Keaton, director of insurance and business risk management at CSX Transportation in Jacksonville, Florida; and Scot Schwarting, director of risk management for Whirlpool Corp. in Benton Harbor, Michigan.

“Organizations have come to rely on risk professionals’ knowledge and ingenuity to navigate the rapidly evolving and increasingly more complex risk landscape,” RIMS CEO Mary Roth said in the statement. “This year’s RIMS Risk Manager of the Year and Honor Roll awardees have risen to the occasion and successfully turned uncertainty into great opportunities for their organizations.”
 
Ms. Roth added that Mr. Nickel’s success at Google “exemplifies the invaluable role risk professionals can play in allowing their organizations to achieve strategic objectives.” 

“It is an honor and privilege for RIMS to recognize the achievements of these outstanding professionals,” Ms. Roth said.

RIMS acquired the Risk Manager of the Year and Risk Management Honor Roll awards from Crain Communications Inc. last year when the publishing company sold Business Insurance. The program, initiated in 1977, had previously been run by Business Insurance.