Academy Officers and Regular Directors Begin Terms

WASHINGTON—The American Academy of Actuaries is pleased to announce five officers and four regular directors serving on its Board of Directors who began their terms today at the close of the Academy’s first-ever virtual Annual Meeting of Members.

Maryellen Coggins of Cohasset, Mass., a past chairperson of the Actuarial Standards Board (ASB) and a former Academy vice president, risk management and financial reporting, began her term as president-elect. “I will do my utmost to maintain the excellence and leadership of those who have been the stewards of the Academy’s public policy and professionalism mission over many years, and I deeply appreciate the efforts of the countless volunteers who have brought the Academy’s work to fruition by so keenly focusing on our objectivity and independence—women and men who care deeply about the Academy and the profession, and so selflessly give of themselves to serve them both,” Coggins said. She will become Academy president at the close of the Academy’ s 2021 Annual Meeting of Members.

Catherine Murphy-Barron of New York City began a second one-year term as Academy secretary-treasurer. Murphy-Barron is a former Academy vice president, health.

Three Academy members began two-year terms as vice presidents: Lauren Cavanaugh of Pennington, N.J., as vice president, casualty; Al Schmitz of Brookfield, Wis., as vice president, health; and Al Bingham of Johns Creek, Ga., as vice president, professionalism. Cavanaugh just completed serving two years of a three-year term as a regular director on the Academy Board of Directors; Schmitz is a past regular director; and Bingham is a past regular director and past vice president, health.

The five officers were elected by the Academy Board of Directors at the Board’s annual meeting on Oct. 15, 2020.

The regular directors who started new terms today are Margaret Berger of Princeton, N.J.; Christopher Carlson of Upper Arlington, Ohio; Jason Russell of Washington, D.C.; and Pete Weber of Columbus, Ohio. The Academy’s Nominating Committee presented the slate of four candidates for open regular director positions, and Academy members elected them over the summer in an online election. Their terms of service are three years, except for Carlson’s, whose one-year term will complete the three-year term for the Board seat vacated by Lauren Cavanaugh.

Berger is a former vice chairperson of the Pension Practice Council (PPC) and a longtime volunteer on several PPC committees and a former member of the ASB’s Pension Committee.

Carlson is a former ASB member and ASB liaison for many Academy public policy committees, was a longtime member of the Casualty Practice Council, and served as a former special director of the Board.

Russell is vice chairperson of the Pension Practice Council and former chairperson of the Multiemployer Plans Committee.

Weber is a member of the Life Practice Council as well as several work groups focused on life principle-based reserving.

For more information on the Academy, please visit www.actuary.org.

###

The American Academy of Actuaries is a 19,500-member professional association whose mission is to serve the public and the U.S. actuarial profession. For more than 50 years, the Academy has assisted public policymakers on all levels by providing leadership, objective expertise, and actuarial advice on risk and financial security issues. The Academy also sets qualification, practice, and professionalism standards for actuaries in the United States.