William Halvorson MAAA FSA
William A. Halvorson, MAAA, FSA
June 26, 1928–September 5, 2016
A remembrance by Walter S. Rugland
William A. Halvorson (Bill) died on Sept. 5, 2016, at age 88. He had a long and varied career of service to the actuarial profession and was instrumental in changing much of the infrastructure of the American Academy of Actuaries and the Society of Actuaries (SOA) , serving as president of each organization (1981–1982 for the Academy, and 1977 for the SOA).
Bill grew up in Menomonie, Wisc., and graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He started his career on the actuarial staff of New York Life working with Wendell Milliman. When Milliman moved to Seattle to join Stuart Robertson and establish a new actuarial consulting firm, Bill was soon recruited to join the firm.
Bill was a key player in the history of Milliman and helped shape the firm into what it is today. In 1956 he opened its San Francisco office, the first Milliman office outside of Seattle. He grew that office with a personal focus on pension plans, including multiemployer plans, and then health consulting.
In 1961 Bill moved to open Milliman’s Milwaukee office. His work by this time was focused on health consulting, and was the pioneer of Milliman’s growing health practice. The practice director roles in the firm were initiated in 1976, and Bill was designated at the first practice director for health. He retired from Milliman in 1983, and launched a private investment management firm.
His commitment to the actuarial profession started soon after he earned his fellowship in the SOA in 1954 when he began working on the SOA’s Fields of Activity Committee, charged with creating a balance in the actuaries’ program of education and meetings. He identified the need to develop support for investment work, and began developing programs back in 1955 and 1956 on investment. Through this effort, the investment program was added to the SOA’s part 7 exam. He also co-developed the syllabus for the first investment exam.
When he became president-elect of the SOA in 1977, he appointed a committee to study the feasibility of adding special interest sections within the Society. The Committee to Investigate Special Interests ultimately led to the SOA’s current structure of support for actuaries in different fields of work.
Throughout his career, Bill was at the forefront of writing and speaking regarding the actuary’s professional responsibility to clients and to society at large. He was both a company actuary and a consulting actuary. When asked the difference in professional responsibility between a company actuary and a consulting actuary, he said there was no difference: “To be objective, unbiased, and to provide all the alternatives.” In other words, provide the range of alternatives with risks, allowing decision-makers to make informed decisions. He also believed that the value of objectivity is that it leads to cooperation.
In 1974, when Bill was vice president of both the Society and the Academy, and at the request of the NAIC, he began to develop requirements for certification for actuarial opinions. In particular, there was the need to allow actuaries to certify to the reserves—what they know—rather than the entire annual statement. Thus began the effort to develop the valuation actuary role. Bill followed up by appointing a special committee of the Academy to set up the Academy’s standards of practice through adoption of SAPs.
As president-elect of the Academy, he was chairperson of the public relations committee. This committee started with two simple questions, “What and who are we?” and “Who are our publics, and what are their needs?” Many at the time wanted to focus on the fact that actuaries were people who were good at math and risk, and who were good problem-solvers. Bill believed that was a description of qualifications for a job, rather than the definition of a profession. This committee began the effort for actuaries to focus on who actuaries’ publics are, and what they needed from actuaries.
Bill was instrumental in asking the right questions, and in spending time and effort to answer those questions. His legacy will continue—for which his profession owes many thanks.
He is survived by his wife, Patricia; children, Robert, Janet, Audrey (MAAA, FSA) and Katherine; .six grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
Walter S. Rugland served the Academy as a vice president and is the son of Walter L. Rugland, fifth president of the Academy.
Share