Emily Patterson Profile
The road to Germany
Meet Emily Patterson, a political science major who graduated in 2012.
Emily was a political science major, honor's program student, and a member of the Saint Francis Women’s Lacrosse Team. Emily accomplished a lot while at Saint Francis: a member of the Gamma Sigma Sigma National Sorority; Vice-President of Finance for the Inter-Sorority Council; Treasurer of the Class of 2013 three years in a row; an intern twice, once in business and once in legal affairs; a study abroad student in Germany; and the recipient of the Richard Dorsey Muller Memorial Scholarship Senior Award.
As an honor's student in political science, Emily completed her independent study research project on a comparative study of the nuclear energy policy in Germany and France to explain why Germany moved away from nuclear energy while France continued to be a strong advocate of nuclear energy. She identified key differences in the organizational structure of the anti-nuclear movements in Germany and France, the sensitivity of the governments to public opinion, and the extent and nature of media coverage to explain the different policy directions in the two countries.
Her study of political science and research experiences, her legal and business internships, her study abroad experience, and the competitive spirit she learned in her sport helped lay a foundation for Emily’s current career success.
Currently Emily works for Marsh, an American insurance and political risk management firm. Emily works in Munich (Germany) in the company’s political risk office. Emily does political risk analysis for international firms wanting to invest in countries in the developing world to determine their insurance needs. Political risk analysis determines the level of political risk to the foreign investments of international companies. In other words, her work addresses the threats international companies face arising from potential political instability, civil wars, terrorism and revolution. This helps them determine their insurance needs.
Reflecting on her experiences at Saint Francis, Emily shared the following:
“There were so many great experiences that I had at Saint Francis that I could write a novel! One of the greatest experiences I gained were the relationships I built with fellow classmates as well as the relationships I built with my professors and the rest of the staff at the University. Because Saint Francis University is a smaller school, it was not only easy for me to make numerous friends, but it was also easier to stay in touch with them. I felt that since the classroom sizes were smaller, the professors were able to focus on each student individually to help them succeed. Additionally, the advising at the University was amazing. There are no better words to describe it. No matter what direction I wanted to take my education, I was always given multiple choices for what would work best for me. Being a political science major at Saint Francis opened many doors for me that I couldn’t have ever imagined.”