At the Lectern
By Colin Ramsay
I am pleased to present to you the October 2018 issue of Expanding Horizons. This issue is special because, among other things, it contains the beginnings of three new series devoted to some key aspects of the life cycle of an actuary: “maturity,” “old age” and “death.” The “maturity” series is entitled “The Art of Actuarial Practice” and is inaugurated by a leading scholar and practitioner, Dr. Greg Taylor. The main idea behind “The Art of Actuarial Practice” series is for the author to communicate her/his opinion of examples where actuarial “art” has been applied in an effective manner to propel the advancement of actuarial “science.” We hope to feature one such article in each future issue of Expanding Horizons. Our hope is that each article in this series demonstrates to academic actuaries, students, and others how actuarial education and actuarial research affect/influence the practice of actuarial science in the workplace and beyond (to non-traditional settings) and inspires more creativity in actuarial research and practice. With respect to “old age,” the newsletter is launching a new feature section devoted to honoring retired actuaries who have had an outstanding academic career. Our hope is to inform and educate our younger academic actuaries about academic trailblazers such as Professor John McCutcheon. Unfortunately, death is a part of life, so we have started a series called "In Memoriam," which acknowledges the passing of renowned actuarial educators and/or scholars. In this case we honor Professor Marc Goovaerts via a tribute written by one of his colleagues, Professor Jan Dhaene. As you peruse this issue, I encourage you to send us your feedback on specific articles in this issue or feedback on articles that have appeared in a recently published issue. You are also invited to send us articles on any aspect of actuarial education and/or actuarial research. Although Expanding Horizons is not a peer-reviewed scholarly publication, all articles are screened for relevance to section’s membership.
Sincerely,
Colin M. Ramsay
Colin M. Ramsay, ASA, MAAA, is a professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He can be reached at cramsay@unl.edu.