Three New Majors Added for 2023-24

May 30, 2023

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Three new courses of study will be available to Illinois Wesleyan University students beginning in the fall of 2023. 

Students can pursue degrees in any one of the following new majors, in addition to more than 80 majors, minors and concentrations currently available. 

 

Public Health

This interdisciplinary program will provide students the knowledge and skills needed to contribute to local, state, national and global public health initiatives in a wide variety of settings. The Public Health program adheres to Council on Education for Public Health standards and is firmly rooted in the scientific exploration of public health.

The program combines academic offerings from courses in the areas of English, economics, chemistry, environmental studies, health, philosophy, political science, psychology and sociology.

Assistant Professor of Public Health David Remmert said research has found that those in the public health workforce with an undergraduate degree jumped by more than 1,100% between 2001 and 2020. 

“[This] reflects the mounting interest in public health fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Remmert. “The pandemic underscored the vital importance of the work and the dire need for more public health professionals in a time of crisis.” 

Protection efforts such as the science behind the development of vaccines, health policies that provided legal authority for the widespread distribution of vaccines worldwide, and the coordination of mass vaccination campaigns are all examples of how public health works across many fields of study to ensure the health of populations. 

 

Quantitative Finance

The quantitative finance major at Illinois Wesleyan is a unique combination of finance theory and application, mathematics and data science. With the vast amount of available

financial data, there is an ever-growing need for thoughtful professionals to evaluate such data to solve important financial issues such as valuation of instruments, portfolio management and optimization, pricing of derivatives and risk management.

Assistant Professor of Finance Mikhail Munenzon said quantitative finance is a relatively new and rapidly growing focus in the field of finance.

“The field requires not just a deep grasp of finance theory and application, but also a solid understanding of mathematics and data science techniques,” said Munenzon.

State-of-the-art financial instruments are also available to students at Illinois Wesleyan, such as the Greg Yess '82 Bloomberg Finance Lab which houses 12 full-access Bloomberg Terminals and two live stock tickers. 

By combining quantitative skills with a strong liberal arts foundation, Munenzon noted this cross-departmental program will make graduates attractive to employers — leading to a variety of careers such as a quantitative researcher or modeler, risk manager or systemic trader.

 

Professional Sales

Professional salespeople play a critical role in the marketing of goods and services, representing firms that produce resources while connecting with other firms. The new professional sales major equips students with the knowledge and skills necessary for career success. 

Associate Professor of Business and Marketing David Wallace said professional salespeople are required in every industry, and workforce demand in Professional Sales is projected to grow more quickly than average. 

“Our program is unique in that it both requires and further develops skills that are hallmarks of the rigorous liberal arts education provided by Illinois Wesleyan University, including both oral and written communications, critical thinking, and teamwork,” said Wallace.

By Julia Perez