The recent financial crisis has changed how the world views finance in many ways. Students everywhere, of all majors (not just the economists), became more attentive to the institutions and markets plummeting throughout the world. And in the spirit of this new upsurge of interest in the financial world, it is important to examine what some may call an obscure discipline: risk management.

The concept applies broadly to all of us, because students at our school manage risk constantly. J-walking across Sheridan or taking on sidewalk bikers are risks students here face on a daily basis. More serious, there are billion dollar risks in this world. Risks that have the ability to impact the global economy. The thrill of risk-taking and the mystery of finance come together in a sometimes messy way. Example? The financial crisis, which eventually spilled into the lives of everyday Americans, with unemployment rising and markets tumbling.

There are two steps to solving any problem, dealing with the current problem and making sure it does not happen again. If we’re to assume the bailouts and current monetary policy are curbing the problem for now, that still leaves the issue of dealing with the future. And that’s where risk management comes into play.

Risk management is largely undeveloped — and it sounds pretty boring. Who wants to be the person preventing people from taking risks? But all preconceived notions aside, risk management is important and deserves more attention. Banks and firms have steadily begun to implement risk programs, starting with the basics. The three major risk types that are highly regarded are market risk (risk of a bad investment in the market), credit risk (risk of a loan default), and operational risk (risk of an internal failure).

The current recession came about via a combination of each of these risk categories that were largely unregulated. It seems plausible that better adherence to credit risk practices could have curbed the effects of the subprime mortgage crisis. Or perhaps an eye for market risk could have contained the irresponsibility of AIG and its financial products division.

But how does this effect us? The Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP), a non-profit firm that aims to promote what they call “better risk practices” throughout the global economy, is currently training a new generation of financial risk professionals — cultivating minds like those at Northwestern.

“I believe the current crisis could have been less severe had more attention been paid to risk management,” argues Rich Apostolik, GARP’s CEO. But where to lay the blame is up for debate. Apostolik suggests multiple sources within companies, including “the activities of Boards of Directors [...] as well as the senior management of many companies.”

But he suggests the lack of adequate risk management was not just an internal flaw. “Regulators around the globe were also lax in pursuing their customer protection roles [...] resulting in the crisis we are now dealing with on a global basis.”

This is not to say the climate isn’t changing. Apostolik has seen a significant trend towards the inclusion of risk management at all levels of the economy. “Risk management related expenditures are increasing with most companies, sometimes dramatically, and there is a high level of interest in looking at risks across firms in an attempt to gain a firm-wide view of the company’s overall risk profile.”

Apostolik believes that the changes now are more than just changes in attitude. “Companies are also moving the role of the risk manager to their senior management team level,” he says, meaning that risk management is increasingly seen as vital to these companies.

So if companies are learning, and countries are learning, shouldn’t students be learning too?

Risk management as a career field for college students is emerging quickly. Apostolik believes that “risk management is the only dramatically growing field in finance,” and that there is a lack of good risk managers around. So if you’re thinking about a life in finance, consider risk management. After all, the world is a risky place. And that is not going to change.