Thursday, March 8, 2018

I'd Like to Thank The Academy....2017 Actuarial Awards Summary


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The Oscars completes the awards season.  Awards are everywhere....Emmys, Grammys, ESPYs, oh my!  Even the POTUS submitted his own version of awards.

While not given the exact same spotlight, or fancy evening wear, actuaries give out their own sets of Awards.  The 2017 summary is below.

From the Academy of Actuaries:


The Robert J. Myers Public Service Award honors exceptional contributions to the common good and goes to Larry Bruning of Kansas City, Mo., whose work at the Kansas Insurance Department and as chair of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Life Actuarial Task Force has been instrumental to the adoption and implementation of life principle-based reserving. “I am extremely honored to receive this award from the Academy,” said Bruning. “I share this award with the many colleagues who assisted and supported me in my efforts to bring about the evolutionary change in the state regulation of life insurance that will better serve the public for years to come.”
The Jarvis Farley Service Award recognizes exceptional contributions to the actuarial profession and goes to Kenneth A. Kent of McLean, Va., a longtime Academy volunteer who has made significant contributions in both the public policy and professionalism areas of the Academy’s work, including serving as vice president of pension and vice president of professionalism.  “This is a great and unexpected honor that I share with the many other dedicated actuaries with whom I have had the pleasure of volunteering over the years,” said Kent. “My attraction to volunteering and participating has always been fueled by the incredible opportunity to meet and work collaboratively with other actuaries. It is so much more valuable to grow a career being exposed to the diverse views of actuaries from different disciplines, practices, and countries.”

Outstanding Volunteerism - 
  • Mary Bahna-Nolan of Naperville, Ill.
  • Keith Passwater of Brownsburg, Ind. 
  • Lenny Reback of Highland Park, N.J. 
  • Nancy Watkins of San Francisco, Calif.
  • Aaron Weindling of Philadelphia, Pa.



From the Society of Actuaries

SOA Section Awards:

  • Investment Section
    • Asset Allocation Contest Winner 
    •  $10,000 Reddington Prize - The Redington Prize-winning paper is “Lapse-and-Reentry in Variable Annuities,” by Thorsten Moenig and Nan Zhu, FSA. Dr. Moenig is an Assistant Professor of Actuarial Science at Temple University and Dr. Zhu is an Assistant Professor of Risk Management at Penn State University.
  • Education and Reserach Section 
  • Leadership and Development Section
    • Leadership Inspiration Contest - Grand Prize = $250 gift card = Best Overall Submission.  Mary Pat Campbell, FSA, MAAA for “An Influential Lesson from Old Ben: Borrow Books” 

Other:

AWARDS FOR RESEARCH PAPERS
AWARDS FOR SERVICE TO THE ACTUARIAL PROFESSION
  • Lifetime Acheivement Award - Nadine Orloff
  • Most Valuable Volunteer - Thomas A. Swain



From the Actuarial Foundation

The Wynn Kent Public Communication Award recognizes an actuary who has contributed to the public awareness of financial risk and the work product of the actuarial profession to the public in the fields of life, health, casualty, pension or other related areas. The intent of this award is to encourage actuaries to engage in activities that highlight the actuarial profession’s role in financial security issues benefiting the public. - TBD

The ERM Research Excellence Award in Memory of Hubert Mueller recognizes significant contributions to the growing body of enterprise risk management knowledge and research. The award is given annually to the best overall paper at the ERM Symposium. B. John Manistre, Ph.D., FSA and  J.C. McKenzie Smith, FSA for “Elements of After-Tax Risk Management”.

Modeling the Future Contest - Clinching first place and receiving a $25,000 scholarship were Sam Ferguson, Abhijit Gupta and Julia Wang from the North Carolina School for Science and Mathematics in Durham, North Carolina. 


That's it! (I think)....cue the music!

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