American Academy of Actuaries Recognizes Members’ Service to Public, U.S. Actuarial Profession

WASHINGTON—The American Academy of Actuaries recognized members’ service to the U.S. actuarial profession and the public with the presentation of awards to five individuals at its 2022 Annual Meeting: “Envision Tomorrow” in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 2 and 3.

• Kathy Riley of Boston, Mass., received the Academy’s 2022 Jarvis Farley Service Award, a lifetime achievement award that honors an actuary whose volunteer efforts on behalf of the Academy have made significant contributions to the advancement of the profession.
• Larry Johansen of Concord, N.H., received the Academy’s 2022 Robert J. Myers Public Service Award, an award established in 1994 to honor an actuary for a single noteworthy public service achievement or a career devoted to public service.
• Three Academy volunteers—Katie Campbell of Auke Bay, Ala.; David Evans of San Francisco, Calif.; and Norman Niami of Washington, D.C.—received the Academy’s 2022 Outstanding Volunteerism Awards. The awards honor Academy volunteers who have made noteworthy contributions in their volunteer work in the last year.

Riley received the Jarvis Farley Service Award for her prolific contributions through 23 years of dedicated volunteer service to the Academy in 25 different roles. Her accomplishments include leading the 2008 revision of the U.S. Qualification Standards (USQS) that defined qualifications for actuaries practicing in the United States until 2022, when a new version of the USQS took effect. Through leadership and committee and task force roles, Riley also made a wide range of contributions to numerous actuarial standards of practice, to the Academy’s public policy work on retirement issues through critical periods of regulatory and legislative change, and to Academy governance.

“Kathy’s prolific contributions have had a profound impact on her colleagues and public policy stakeholders, and on our profession,” said Academy 2021–22 President Maryellen Coggins. “She has shown us the meaning of tireless service, exemplifying the spirit of the award’s namesake, Jarvis Farley.”

Johansen received the Robert J. Myers Public Service Award in recognition of his extraordinary contribution to the public good through a 50-year actuarial career in public service working with public retirement systems. His career was marked by an extraordinary scope and quality of actuarial work at the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System, and in service to the New Hampshire Retirement System, which went well beyond actuarial analysis and showed an enduring passion to serve others. He is known as an accomplished and valued communicator and adviser to non-actuaries and external stakeholders such as legislative and executive branch staff, unions, and others, reflecting positively on the actuarial profession as a whole and on public service actuaries.

“Larry demonstrated the best in actuarial public service with a clarity of vision that the actuarial perspective is essential to sound policymaking,” said Coggins. “He made that vision come true to the benefit of the public good.”

The Outstanding Volunteerism Awards recognized:

• Campbell’s effective and diligent leadership in ensuring the USQS remain appropriate, timely, and clear. She led the process that resulted in the publication of the revised 2022 USQS as chairperson of the Committee on Qualifications.
• Evans’ leadership as a member of the Academy’s P/C Extreme Events and Property Lines Committee in producing an update of the Academy’s well-received issue paper, Wildfire: An Issue Paper—Lessons Learned from the 2017–2021 Events. He was recognized for going “the extra mile” in calling attention to the committee’s work through outreach efforts.
• Niami’s exceptional leadership and high level of engagement as chairperson of the Cyber Risk Task Force. Niami shepherded the task force’s update and expansion of the Cyber Risk Toolkit and promoted this important contribution to the profession and external stakeholders in the cyber risk arena.

“Service is at the heart of the Academy’s mission,” said Coggins. “The skill, dedication, and hard work of our volunteers is the lifeblood that enables us to produce our valuable public policy and professionalism work.”

Learn more at actuary.org/awards.

[Media only: Photos of the award recipients are available by contacting Academy Assistant Director of Communications, Public Affairs, David Mendes at mendes@actuary.org.]

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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.