Brenda Powell Wells

Brenda Powell Wells is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Finance & Insurance at the College of Business, East Carolina University (ECU). She also serves as the Director of the Risk Management & Insurance Program and holds the Robert F. Bird Distinguished Professorship in Risk Management and Insurance. Her work bridges academia and industry through research, teaching, and consulting.

She earned her Ph.D. and Bachelor of Business Administration in Risk Management and Insurance from the University of Georgia and holds advanced professional designations including CPCU, AAI, CRIS, and CICS, along with a graduate certificate in Business Analytics from ECU.

• Risk Management
• Insurance (Property-Casualty, Life, Commercial)
• Insurance Education and Curriculum Development
• Diminished Value in Auto Insurance
• Impact of Marijuana Legalization on Insurance
• Business Analytics in Insurance

Her recent research, published in top journals like the Journal of Risk and Insurance and Journal of Insurance Issues, focuses on emerging challenges in insurance regulation, consumer protection, and pedagogical innovation. She is known for her seminal work on marijuana legalization’s impact on property-casualty insurance.

• Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter (CPCU)
• Accredited Advisor of Insurance (AAI)
• Construction Risk Insurance Specialist (CRIS)
• Cannabis Insurance Coverage Specialist (CICS)
• Robert F. Bird Distinguished Professor of Risk Management and Insurance
• Bodacious Crowd Pleaser award, Blue Night of the Stars Talent Show

Brenda advises students and leads ECU’s Gamma Iota Sigma chapter, mentoring future professionals. She has supervised numerous internships and independent studies and has raised over $3 million for academic and professional initiatives. Through her consulting firm, Risk Education Strategies, she provides expert testimony, agency management consulting, and continuing education. She is also active in ARIA, SRIA, and WRIA, having served as past president of the latter two.

She founded the Texas Risk and Insurance Professional Society (TRIPS), a nonprofit supporting insurance education, and remains deeply involved in public speaking, curriculum development, and student organization leadership.