Description: Call for essays that provide practical applications of in-depth research papers that will be published in the upcoming edition of the NAAJ.

Description: This is the first article in the new "Fireside Chat" series which intends to honor highly accomplised academic actuaries and allow them to share their insights into academic careers with young scholars. This article is mainly based on an interview with Dr. Edward Frees (Jed), one of the most accomplished actuarial professors.

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

Description: Significant progress has been made in transforming the actuarial profession but it remains untransformed. Universities have been instrumental in training future actuaries and this article is about how the University of Cape Town has been addressing transformation in the actuarial program. The school system in South Africa has struggled to produce the required quality and quantity of school leavers prepared for higher education. This has led to universities having to develop ways to manage this problem. The article discusses the effectiveness of some of the initiatives introduced at UCT.

Description: An update to the risk management readers on what the JRMS is planning to do over 2023 to serve its membership.

Description: This project pertained to the development of anew Actuarial Science Learning Community model, involving four types of students' engagement: academic coursework, residential life, research, and professional development. The model provided students an immersive exposure to Data Science from the Actuarial perspective, which will result in Actuarial students greatly expanding their skill set and future job opportunities, at the intersection of Actuarial Science and Data Science.

Description: Learn more about the Aging and Retirement Strategic Research Program Steering Committee as well as other research committees and volunteer opportunities at the SOA.

Description: The article discusses the innovative integration of the SOA Research Challenge into the actuarial curriculum at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). This integration, part of the capstone course "Actuarial Theory and Practices," transforms the educational experience by focusing on hands-on problem-solving and mirroring professional actuarial work. Key topics covered include setting assumptions, understanding external environments, the modeling process, data quality, and risk management.

Description: The article describes a new professional experience course in actuarial science at the University of Toronto, including details on its key building blocks and student assessments. It also discusses different teaching modes (in-person vs. online). It should be of interest to institutions looking to add industry internships and experiential learning into their actuarial education.

Description: In this article, I give a few notes as the outgoing chair of the Education and Research Section Council.