Description: A description of a new award for outstanding educators in actuarial science.

Description: Expanding Horizons recently had the opportunity to interview Wenjun Zhu, the winner of the Society of Actuaries’ (SOA’s) third Actuarial Science Early Career Award.

Description: An interview with Diana Skrzydlo, the inaugural winner of the SOA Outstanding Educator Award, about her teaching and the future of actuarial education.

Description: The author shares their experiences and timeline in building an actuarial science program from scratch and reaching the Advanced Curriculum level

Description: This article summarizes the second Simon Conference for young researchers in Actuarial Science, Risk Management, and Insurance, which took place at Michigan State University last November. The intent is to publicize the event and promote future participation in similar conferences of young researchers. The article will contribute to expanding the horizons of actuarial research performed by the academic community. Participation in the conference also gives professional development opportunity for practicing actuaries.

Description: We discuss an event that was hosted on the Georgia State University campus with the support of the Society of Actuaries. The purpose of the event was to introduce nearly 300 high school students, teachers and career counselors to the actuarial profession through presentations, an industry panel, and fun activities.

Description: Over the last two years, we experimented with online peer assessment platforms in undergraduate courses and saw them deliver major learning advantages and be highly popular with students. We explain why peer assessment shows great promise for actuarial science education and the main factors to consider when designing peer assessment activities. We also detail our use of online platforms in two undergraduate courses. By sharing our experience, we hope to provide you, our fellow educators, with a solid starting point for experimenting with this format.

Description: The article outlines the editorial vision of Risk Management and Insurance Review (RMIR), emphasizing the need for research that bridges theoretical innovation and real-world application in the evolving landscape of risk management and insurance. RMIR prioritizes methodologically sound work that contributes to conceptual development and offers actionable insights. The journal encourages interdisciplinary, globally diverse, and practically relevant submissions, including those addressing emerging themes like systemic catastrophe risk, behavioral interventions, algorithmic ethics, and the use of AI in insurance.

Description: In this article, we aim to outline the advantages of smaller programs and gather opinions on the challenges these programs face in their efforts to emphasize these strengths. For our purposes, we define small actuarial programs as those with a relatively low student enrollment count. The following are three key advantages of small programs, which are similar to those of small colleges:(a) Enhanced benefits from small class size; (b) Adaptable curriculum; (c) Increased opportunities for each student. A variety of similar other issues are also discussed with recommendations, challenges, and invitations for further dialogue.

Description: A brief overview of last year's Education & Research Section Council work, accomplishments and challenges from its outgoing chair.