Outstanding Session Awards

Moderators and presenters of the best SOA meeting sessions are recognized

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The SOA Outstanding Session Award program recognizes the moderators and presenters at the best sessions at the Society of Actuaries (SOA) flagship meetings. The outstanding sessions were selected based on multiple criteria including, but not limited to, topic importance and relevance, evaluation ratings and comments, and attendance. 

2019 Life & Annuity Symposium

The SOA is honored to announce the recipients of the Outstanding Session Awards for the 2019 Life & Annuity Symposium that took place May 20–21 in Tampa, Florida. 

Session 12—Venturing Into the Entrepreneurial Space (offered by the SOA Entrepreneurial & Innovation and Actuary of the Future Sections)

Larry N. Stern, FSA, MAAA; Geoff Keast; Nazir Valani, FSA, FCIA, MAAA

Session 46—Product Taxation Update (offered by the SOA Taxation Section)

Art Dunlavy; Mark E. Griffin; Larry Hersh, FSA, MAAA

Session 63—How Do You Sell Sprouts?: What Behavioral Science Can Teach Us About Tackling Under-Insurance (offered by the SOA Product Development Section)

Larry A. Fischer, FSA; Matt Battersby 

Session 75—Actuarial Professionalism: Judge and Jury (offered by the SOA)

James A. Miles, FSA, MAAA; Donna Megregian, FSA, MAAA; Kelly J. Rabin, FSA, CFA, MAAA; Douglas L. Robbins, FSA, MAAA; Andrew Stallmann, ASA, MAAA


2019 Health Meeting

The SOA is honored to announce the recipients of the Outstanding Session Awards for the 2019 Health Meeting that took place June 24–26 in Phoenix, Arizona.

Session 027—Public Health: Ignite!

Leanne Metcalfe, Ph.D.; John I. Mange, FSA, MAAA; Marjorie A. Rosenberg, Ph.D., FSA; Shereen Sayre, ASA, MAAA; Kevin E. Dotson, FSA, MAAA; Joe Wurzburger, FSA, MAAA; Sara C. Teppema, FSA, MAAA, FCA

Session 059—ACA Risk Adjustment Data Validation: It Matters! Learning From Year 1 and Beyond (offered by the Health Section)

Alexander Vojta, FSA, MAAA; Karena Weikel, ASA, MAAA; Matt Sauter, ASA, MAAA; Chia Yi Chin, ASA, MAAA

Session 120—Intrapreneurs in Health Insurance (offered by the Entrepreneurial & Innovation Section)

Michael S. Miele, FSA, MAAA; Andrew Mackenzie, FSA, CERA, MAAA

Session 127—Actuarial Professionalism: You Can’t Handle the Truth! (offered by the Health Section)

Joe Wurzburger, FSA, MAAA; Dave Dillon, FSA, MAAA; Douglas T. Norris, FSA, MAAA, Ph.D.; Rick Pawelski, FSA 


2019 Valuation Actuary Symposium

The SOA is honored to announce the recipients of the Outstanding Session Awards for the 2019 Valuation Actuary Symposium that took place Aug. 26–27 in Denver, Colorado. 

Session 08—Regulatory Role Play

John W. Robinson, FSA, FCA, MAAA; Brian Bayerle; Laura Hanson, FSA, MAAA 

Session 56—Avoiding Statistical Pitfalls in Actuarial Work

Douglas L. Robbins, FSA, MAAA; Mark Spong, FSA, CERA, MAAA

Session 79—Professionalism Debate

Craig Reynolds, FSA, MAAA; Dorothy Andrews, ASA, MAAA, CSPA; Tim Cardinal, FSA, MAAA, CERA; Patrick Davidson, ASA, CERA; Kelly J. Rabin, FSA, CFA, MAAA

Session 82—Model Architecture Case Studies: Are Your Models Ready for the Future?

Corey Carriker, FSA, MAAA; Charles Deak, FSA, CERA, MAAA; Melanie Dunn, FSA, MAAA; Gregory Mackenzie, ASA, MAAA


2019 SOA Annual Meeting & Exhibit

The SOA is honored to announce the recipients of the Outstanding Session Awards for the 2019 SOA Annual Meeting & Exhibit that took place Oct. 27–30 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Session 066—The Nexus of Climate Data, Insurance and Adaptive Capacity (offered by SOA General Insurance)

Rob Erhardt, Ph.D., ACAS; Rob Montgomery, ASA, MAAA

Session 079—Canadian vs. U.S. Health Care: A Study in Contrasts (offered by the Health Section and Social Insurance and Public Finance Section)

Karen Shelton, FSA, MAAA; Kurt Wrobel, FSA; Ella Young, PMP, MHA, A/CHE, CRM, BComm (Hons)

Session 105—Updates on Proposed Changes and (Current) Financial Status of Social Security (offered by the Social Insurance & Public Finance Section)

William B. Fornia, FSA; Stephen C. Goss, ASA, MAAA; Bruce D. Schobel, FSA, MAAA

Session 174: R 101—Available Actuarial Packages & Creating Reproducible Actuarial Analyses (offered by the Predictive Analytics & Futurism Section)

Ron Curran, FSA, MAAA; Hadrien Dykiel; Nick Hanewinckel, FSA, CERA; Matthew Zhang FSA, MAAA, CERA

Session 180—The Changing Environment of Life Insurance and Reinsurance Arbitrations in 2019 (offered by the SOA)

Mike A. Boot, FSA, MAAA; Denis W. Loring, FSA, MAAA; Susan E. Mack, Esq.

Session 197—Actuarial Professionalism: You Can’t Handle the Truth! (offered by the SOA)

Mike A. Boot, FSA, MAAA; Kelly Featherstone, FSA, FCIA; Mary Stone, FSA, EA, MAAA, FCA; Nate Worrell, FSA; Joe Wurzburger, FSA, MAAA

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