2011 graduate shares advice at Opening Convocation
Lakeland University welcomed 2011 graduate Pratikshya Bhandari Thursday to share some wisdom for students as the featured speaker at Opening Convocation as LU officially opened the 2024-25 academic year.
During her time at Lakeland, Bhandari, now associate vice president of asset liability management and investment risk at Nationwide Insurance, majored in international business with an emphasis in mathematics and economics. She was the 2011 winner one of Lakeland's highest honors for a student, the Clarence H. Koehler Award
She served as an officer with the Global Student Association and Lakeland's Student Association and was lead planner for International Night. She made two spring break service trips with Habitat for Humanity and logged numerous hours helping other organizations. She also volunteered a significant amount of time as an academic tutor.
Bhandari reminisced on her time as a Muskie and the relationships she made. "College was hard, but the relationships you make here will carry you through the bad times, the good times, and all the times after Lakeland," she said.
She had this advice for current Lakeland students: "Think big; you are capable of big things. Do not let anyone put you into a box. Lakeland will give you the opportunity to do great things."
In addition to her Lakeland degree, Bhandari holds a master's in applied economics from Marquette University, and a master's in international policy and business from Georgetown University. She also holds a certificate in macro econometrics from Barcelona Graduate School of Economics.
Originally from Nepal, she has traveled to more than 45 countries, she speaks three languages fluently and lives in Milwaukee with her husband.
In 2016, she generously created the Bhandari Travel Fund, an annual scholarship that helps Lakeland students cover the cost of a study abroad experience. Bhandari firmly believes that a liberal arts education should include a travel abroad experience, and this scholarship helps make that possible for high-achieving students who may otherwise not be able to afford the opportunity.
In her role at Nationwide Insurance, she leads strategic asset allocation, investment strategy and investment risk projects for the enterprise including Nationwide Financial, Property & Casualty, Pension Accounts and the Foundation.
She previously worked for Northwestern Mutual for over a decade. She was a director in investment strategy responsible for long-term policy allocation for all institutional and pension portfolios.
