Virginia college wins challenge studying impact of COVID-19 on nation’s banks

The four members of a team of undergraduate students from a Virginia university are the winners of the annual academic challenge hosted by the federal insurer of bank deposits, focusing on the impact of the coronavirus crisis on U.S. banks.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) said the four from James Madison University College of Business in Harrisonburg, Va., are winners of the second annual competition. The contest was made up of two rounds. In the first, teams of undergraduate students used multiple public data sources to prepare a written submission that examined the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the banking sector and highlighted the areas of greatest importance for regulators to consider.

In the second, finalist teams presented their findings and answered questions from a panel of judges who work in the areas of banking and bank supervision.

The JMU team included as members: Noah Vanhoy, Sara Kate Garman, Emelia Potteiger, and Nicolas Gonzalez as recipients of the FDIC 2021-2022 Academic Challenge recognition; it was led by faculty advisor Carl Larsson. The FDIC said the team presented a thoughtful examination on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the banking sector.

Other finalist teams included: the University of Chicago Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics; SUNY Geneseo School of Business; the University of Oregon Lundquist College of Business; and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Economics Department.

James Madison University College of Business Wins FDIC’s 2nd Annual Academic Challenge