Description: This short note discusses creativity in the context of actuarial science, and how to cultivate it. We first attempt to define creative thinking as opposed to procedural thinking or memory recall. We then describe concrete examples of actuarial projects that promote deeper thinking. We also address why creativity is needed and how to make sure our students are able to communicate their creative ideas effectively.

Description: Article describes accomplishments as Chair during the year. Four accomplishments are mentioned: i) Actuarial Research Conference ii) Early Career Award, iii) Establishment of Outstanding Educator Award, iv) Push to create surveys from the section containing a reservoir of ideas that can be used for webinars, podcasts, etc.

Description: In the spring of 2019, Dr. Cai started to serve as the Actuarial Science Program coordinator at Salisbury University, a medium-sized public teaching school in Maryland. At that time, the program was small, with only two faculty members who focused on both statistics and actuarial science, with approximately 10 students. During the next five years, the program did make some achievements in curriculum development, student exam preparation, job placement, and recognition, but Dr. Cai continued to have a dream to make the program unique. Dr. Cai believed that the skill sets students learned, even from a small program, could enable them to compete with anyone on a global basis. In spring 2024, Dr. Cai advised a group of exceptional actuarial students to participate in the 2024 Society of Actuaries (SOA) Student Research Case Study Challenge (SRCSC), and the team won third place – —behind two teams from the University of New South Wales, Australia. This article is the story of the journey.

Description: The paper discusses the role of a regulatory actuarial auditor, the risk focused examination process and the policyholder protection provided by the states, and the impact of varying state laws on the valuation process, and the importance of avoiding actuarial software becoming a black box. There is a discussion of the potential problems presented by the potential use of artificial intelligence, as well as suggestions for academic researchers to answer the pressing questions of whether artificial intelligence can potentially be used for valuation purposes.

Description: Call for papers for publication in Actuarial Research Clearing House (ARCH). The primary goal of ARCH is the speedy dissemination of current thinking and aids to research rather than the publication of thoroughly edited papers. ARCH welcomes short notes or papers, correspondence between researchers, useful computer programs (or announcements of the availability of such programs), translations of appropriate material in foreign languages, problems, solutions, etc.

Description: Call for papers for publication in Actuarial Research Clearing House (ARCH). The primary goal of ARCH is the speedy dissemination of current thinking and aids to research rather than the publication of thoroughly edited papers. ARCH welcomes short notes or papers, correspondence between researchers, useful computer programs (or announcements of the availability of such programs), translations of appropriate material in foreign languages, problems, solutions, etc.

Description: This article studies the syllabus as a dynamic, interactive teaching tool that informs and is informed by both solutions of complex course problems and student difficulties with these problems.