The CAS has selected three university students as recipients of the 2019 CAS Trust Scholarship, an honor created to further students’ interest in the property-casualty actuarial profession and encourage the pursuit of the CAS designations. The program awards up to three scholarships annually to actuarial students for the upcoming academic year, ranging from $5,000 to $10,000. This year’s awardees are Tommy Anderson, a senior at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota; Jack Richards, a senior at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa; and Cason Wight, a senior at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah.
The recipient of the program’s $10,000 scholarship, Anderson, has gained industry experience at Travelers Insurance, where he interned in 2017 and 2018. He returned to Travelers this summer as an intern in the Actuarial and Analytics Leadership Development Program, focusing on small commercial analytics. Anderson participates in several campus activities including vice president of alumni relations for Gamma Iota Sigma and player on the men’s varsity basketball team. “I’m honored to receive this prestigious award and grateful for the tremendous generosity of the CAS. This organization provides aspiring actuaries like me with the support they need to grow into industry leaders and positive difference-makers. The award further inspires me in my pursuit of the FCAS designation, and I am excited for the opportunity to meet and learn from many great actuaries through my involvement with the CAS. I also want to thank God, my family and friends, the faculty at St. Thomas, and my coworkers for their continuous support in my journey,” said Anderson.
Richards, recipient of a $5,000 scholarship, has completed three internships and spent this summer at Deloitte Consulting as a Summer Scholar with the Actuarial and Insurance Solutions practice. Previous internships include Farm Bureau Financial Services in fall 2017 and Travelers Insurance from 2017 to 2018. Richards is active at Drake University, having served as co-president of the Gamma Iota Sigma Chapter in 2018 and director of the Drake Symposium the last two years. “I am proud to be a recipient of the 2019 CAS Trust Scholarship Award. I’ve been amazed by the passion and volunteerism of the Casualty Actuarial Society, and I aspire to obtain my credentials and exemplify these values as a future actuary,” said Richards.
Wight, recipient of a $5,000 scholarship, spent last summer as a P&C actuarial intern at Oliver Wyman and pursued an internship at Cigna this summer. He is a leader within BYU’s Actuarial Club, serving on its executive committee. Wight has also participated in several actuarial research projects and has shared those results at two student research competitions at the 2018 CAS Annual Meeting. The projects have also resulted in a written report, “Auto Loss Cost Trends: Q4 2017,” published by the CAS and SOA, and an academic paper to be published by an academic journal in fall 2019. “I am honored and thrilled about the scholarship. I appreciate what the CAS does and how they are supporting me in my education. I hope to have a positive impact on the profession going forward,” said Wight.
CAS Trust Scholarship winners are chosen by the CAS Trust Scholarship Subcommittee. They must be enrolled, full-time students at a U.S. or Canadian college or university, show high scholastic achievement, and have taken at least one actuarial exam. A selection committee of CAS members assesses the candidates’ academic records, two letters of recommendation and an application essay.
“The 2019 application process was highly competitive, and we were delighted to see that the CAS continues to attract top talent to its ranks,” said Silvia Bach, FCAS, chair of the CAS Trust Scholarship Program. “The three scholarship recipients are outstanding individuals from a large pool of applicants. We look forward to recognizing and celebrating their achievements at the 2019 CAS Annual Meeting in Hawaii!”
