Insights and Ideas from the American Academy of Actuaries
Contingencies
Features
What's in a Name?
The Title of ‘Actuary' Over 20 Centuries In Memory of David Charles Heavilin (1946-2012), Actuary and Friend By Ken Faig, Jr. Julius Caesar required that the Roman Senate post its acts or proceedings in 59 BCE (see Smith). It is...
On the Way Up—Rising Actuaries Lead the Way
Young actuary leaders represent the future of the actuarial profession, bringing innovation, new perspectives and skills, and an embrace of leadership roles to guide it into the future. They are essential to the continuing success and growth of the...
A Pebble on the Surface
By Jeff Petertil Thirty years ago, The Wall Street Journal published on its editorial page an article I wrote. This opinion piece made a bit of a stir at the time, which was intended, and got me fired, which was not. The piece also had a...
K
Fiction by Leo Apilash The Trial I stood in front of the magistrate, the honorable Judge Elanor Klamm, looking as humble as I could. My Brooks Brothers suit-a graduation gift from my father and the only suit I owned-was too tight, causing me...Departments
Member Spotlight
Donna Megregian
What led you to become an actuary? and what attracted you to the profession?
I liked math but did see myself as a teacher or engineer. My father, who was an auditor, said "Don't go into accounting. You'd be better off as an actuary." I looked...
Member Spotlight
Seong-Min Eom
What led you to become an actuary? and what attracted you to the profession?
I never knew the word "actuary" until after I graduated from college. After graduating and getting married, I was looking for a job and deciding what to do. One day my...
Special Section
The Zero-Trust Paradigm—Cyber Security for the 21st Century
By
R. Greg Szrama III
The name itself sounds cynical-Zero Trust.
It evokes an image of the X-Files informant Deep Throat telling Mulder to
"Trust no one." Sure enough, the most secure computer is one that is unplugged
and turned off....
Letters
Letters to the Editor
Wading Into the Wordle Waters
With some trepidation, I have decided to chime in on Wordle ("An Actuary Takes on Wordle"; July/August 2022). Winning on the first word is pure luck, and no strategy can significantly increase one's chance of winning...
Inside Track
November Reign
By Eric P. Harding
It's just before the Academy's Envision Tomorrow: Annual
Meeting 2022 (Nov. 2-3) as I write this note, and the staff is abuzz. What's
the analogy? It's like a duck in the water-calm and effortless above the water,
frenzied...
President’s Message
Renewal, Redux
By Maryellen Coggins
I've talked about renewal a lot this year. I spoke about it
at last year's annual meeting, and I have written about it in my presidential
columns in these pages and elsewhere.
What is renewal? In the simplest terms, it is...
Up To Code
A Fine Mess
By April Choi
One morning in late June, while I was going through my daily
routine of having my morning cup of coffee and scanning the news, something
caught my eye. I came across a news article from the Wall Street Journal
with the headline,...
Tradecraft
Medicaid/CHIP Medical Loss Ratios—Lessons From the First Years of Regulatory Reporting
By David A. Quinn
A medical loss ratio (MLR) measures the portion of premium
revenue spent on claims. It is calculated differently depending on the health
insurance product and accompanying regulations. For Medicaid managed care, a
state pays...
Cryptic Puzzle
Declassification
By Tom Toce
Eight of the answers in this puzzle, four across and four down, must be declassified before they can be entered in the diagram. The eight answers cross, and the squares at which two answers meet do double duty. Two different synonyms...
Puzzles
Poker Is Back!
By Josh Feldman
While I don't play poker nearly as much as I did 15 years
ago, I still enjoy playing and watching the greatest card game ever created.
The pandemic took that away from me, but now poker is back, nearly as popular
as ever. Heck,...
End Paper
Are We Indifferent to Mortality Deficits?
By Sam Gutterman
I just finished reading an op-ed in the Financial Times
titled "America's indifference to its life expectancy crisis." Its thesis is
that, despite the relatively poor average health condition of those in the
United States,...
