Board of Directors

MAAA, FSA

Darrell Knapp is the Academy’s 60th president, serving from November 2024 to November 2025.
Prior to that, he was secretary/treasurer, a past Academy director, and was chairperson of the
Actuarial Standards Board (ASB) for two years, serving on the ASB for eight years beginning in 2015.

An active Academy volunteer for more than 25 years, Knapp also served as ASB liaison to
multiple actuarial standard of practice (ASOP) task forces. He has served on many Academy
committees and task forces, including the Health Practice Council and the Risk Management
and Financial Reporting Council, and chaired the annual Life and Health Qualifications Seminar.

Tricia Matson is the Academy’s president-elect, and will serve as Academy president from November 2025 to November 2026. A past member-selected director and past chairperson of the Actuarial Standards Board (ASB), Matson has been an active volunteer for more than 20 years, including as chairperson of the Asset Adequacy and Reinsurance Issues Task Force and the Prudential Regulation Committee. Matson received an Outstanding Volunteerism Award in 2015, and in July of that year as ASB chairperson she chaired a public hearing on pension plans in Washington, D.C., which featured a wide range of diverse stakeholders. 

MAAA, FCAS

Lisa Slotznick was the Academy’s 59th president, serving from November 2023 to November 2024. Slotznick served in numerous Academy volunteer roles including casualty vice president, vice chairperson of the Committee on Qualifications, and chairperson of the Climate Change Joint Committee. She also was chairperson of the Committee on Property and Liability Financial Reporting and the Model Audit Rule Practice Note Subgroup, and served on the Qualifications Review Panel, the Financial Reporting Committee, and the IFRS 17 Work Group. Slotznick  received an Academy Outstanding Volunteerism Award in 2015 and was featured in January 2022 and February 2024 episodes of “Actuary Voices.”

MAAA, EA, FCA, FSA

Immediate Past President, Ken Kent, served as the Academy’s president from November 2022 to
November 2023 and continues to serve of the Board of Directors through November 2025.
Prior to that, he held many volunteer roles including vice president, retirement (then pension);
vice president, professionalism; and continues to be chairperson of the Joint Committee on the
Code of Professional Conduct. Kent received the Academy’s Jarvis Farley Award in 2017,
recognizing his extensive record of accomplishments and reputation for integrity and
commitment to service to the profession through volunteering. He also served for three years
on the Actuarial Board for Counseling and Discipline.

Ben Slutsker is the Academy’s secretary-treasurer. A previous Academy vice president, life,
Slutsker was a member of many Life Practice Council committees and work groups, including
chairperson of the Annuity Reserves & Capital Work Group. He is featured in an “Actuary
Voices” episode in which he traces his actuarial professional evolution in the public and private
sectors.

Nancy Behrens serves as the Academy’s vice president, professionalism and education, with a two-year term running through November 2026. She served for six years on the Actuarial Board for Counseling and Discipline, on the Committee on Professional Responsibility, and other professionalism committees. 

Susan Kent is the Academy’s vice president, casualty, serving a two-year term through November 2026. Kent is a past chairperson of the P/C Committee on Equity and Fairness, and served on the Casualty Practice Council’s P/C Extreme Events and Property Lines Committee and Automobile Insurance Committee. 

Annette James is the Academy’s vice president, health, serving a two-year term through November 2026. James previously served as a member-selected director on the Academy Board for three years, and as co-chairperson of the Health Equity Committee, chairperson of the Actuarial Standards Board’s Health Committee, and chairperson of the Academy’s DEI Committee. 

Jason Kehrberg is the Academy’s vice president, life, serving a two-year term through
November 2025. He is chairperson of the Life Practice Council (LPC) and has served on many
LPC work groups and task forces, including as chairperson of the Life Valuation Committee, the
Economic Scenario Generator Work Group, the Asset Modeling and Reporting Task Force, and
the PBR (Principle-Based Reserving) Checklist Task Force, and was a member of the PBR
Implementation Work Group and the Life Capital Adequacy Committee. 

Jason Russell is the Academy’s vice president, retirement, serving a two-year term through
November 2025. Russell previously served as a member-selected director and on many
Retirement Practice Council (formerly Pension Practice Council) committees, including as
chairperson of the Multiemployer Plans Committee. He has presented to congressional
committees and staff on pension and retirement issues on behalf of the Academy, and opened
the “ERISA at 50” symposium in June 2024, part of the Academy’s series marking the 50th
anniversary of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974.

Steve Malerich is the Academy’s vice president, risk management and financial reporting,
serving a two-year term through November 2025. Malerich previously served as chairperson of
the Financial Reporting Committee, the Life Financial Reporting Committee, and the Long
Duration Contracts Work Group, and has been on multiple Risk Management and Financial
Reporting Council committees and task forces, including the International Accounting Standards
Task Force. He has also been profiled in an Academy Member Spotlight.

Cathy Murphy-Barron, a board-selected director, previously served a one-year term as a member-selected director. She is chairperson of the Committee on Membership and a member of the Nominating Committee. A previous Academy health vice president, Murphy-Barron is a past chairperson of the Research Committee, the Medicare Committee, and the Uninsured Work Group.

Steve Armstrong, a member-selected director, is a member of the Committee on Strategic Planning and has served on the P/C Committee on Equity and Fairness, the Automobile Insurance Committee, and the Volunteer Engagement Subcommittee. A past president of the Casualty Actuarial Society, Armstrong is a board member of the Sexuality and Gender Alliance of Actuaries (SAGAA).

Lena Black, a member-selected director, is a member of the Committee on Strategic Planning, past chairperson of the Pension Committee, and is a past member of the Pension Practice Council and the Research Committee.

Joyce Bohl, a member-selected director, is the chairperson of the Audit Committee and a member of the Committee on Strategic Planning, vice chairperson of the DEI Committee, and past chairperson of the Individual and Small Group Markets Committee.

Derek Freihaut, a member-selected director, is a member of the DEI Committee, the Budget and Finance Committee, past chairperson of the Committee on Property and Liability Financial Reporting (COPLFR), and a past member of the P/C Opinion Seminar Subcommittee.

Eric Keener, a member-selected director, is a member of the Audit Committee, the Membership Committee, past chairperson of the Retirement Policy and Design Evaluation Committee, and drove the Academy’s series of policy documents on national retirement income.

Stephen Koca, a member-selected director, is a member of the Nominating Committee and is chairperson of the Committee on Property and Liability Financial Reporting (COPLFR), which prepares three major annual offerings—the P/C opinion practice note, the Seminar on Effective P/C Loss Reserve Opinions, and the P/C Loss Reserve Law Manual.

Julia Lerche, a member-selected director, is the chairperson of the DEI Committee, a member of the Budget and Finance Committee and the Committee on Strategic Planning, a member and past chairperson of the Medicaid Committee, and a member of the Health Equity Committee.

Donna Megregian, a member-selected director, is a member of the Budget and Finance Committee, chairperson of the Life Products Committee and the Actuarial Standards Board’s Reinsurance Pricing Task Force, and received an Academy Outstanding Volunteerism Award in 2020.

Maambo Mujala, a member-selected director, is a member of the Committee on Strategic Planning, chairperson of the Life Practice Council’s Variable Annuity Reserves and Capital Subcommittee, and was an inaugural recipient of the Academy’s Rising Actuary Award in 2022.