Based on the field research conducted by International Association of Financial Engineers in 1997 on 50 top financial companies and institutions worldwide: 39% of organizations under study claim that staff with mathematical background should take critical roles to lead in severely competitive finance market; 51% agree that staff with mathematical background makes up a very important part of the core of the whole organization; 76% mention that the demand for employees with mathematical background has increased in the past 15 years; 71% think the need will continuously increase in the future. In 2000, Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve Board of the United States of American testified in a Congress hearing and expressed that the times of knowledge economics was coming, and mathematics and science became more important. In addition, 2000 Nobel Laureates in economics, J. L. Heckman and D. L. McFadden applied statistical theories in various applied economics. And 2003 Nobel Laureates in economics, R. F. Eagle and C. W. J. Granger created time series models and use them in financial data analysis. All of the above show the importance of mathematics and emphasize the integration of mathematics, statistics, information and business, which are exactly what the department of Business Mathematics is tailored for.

Today’s insurance and finance job markets desperately need personnel that have interdisciplinary talent and training. The department of Business Mathematics, though in business school, has many faculties with specialties in mathematics, statistics, information and business and has a longtime emphasis on the integration of all related fields, which make it a promising department with vision.