Actuarial Science & Risk Management program continues to earn acclaim

By Cody Boteler on June 15, 2020

Towson University’s actuarial science & risk management (ASRM) program continues to earn widespread acclaim, with students performing well in international competitions and presenting at professional symposia.

“I’m so proud of them,” says Min Deng, Fisher College of Science & Mathematics (FCSM) professor and director of the ASRM program.

Towson University is a Center of Actuarial Excellence (CAE), the highest honor conferred by the Society of Actuaries on colleges and universities. TU is the only school in Maryland to be recognized and is one of only about 36 schools worldwide with that distinction.

Towson University first earned the CAE designation in 2013 and again in 2018. 

To earn a CAE designation, the program’s students have to successfully pass certain exams, participate in research and find jobs, demonstrating that TU’s program creates graduates who are ready to participate in the workforce. Faculty members have to be successful and properly licensed too, she says.

Students achieve success before they graduate, too. The Society of Actuaries recently recognized several students for their performance in the field.

Schuyler Call, president of TU’s ASRM club and recent graduate, was asked to author a report on long-term medical care, published by the Society of Actuaries in April.

Deng says Call is a gifted student who has already passed some of the exams necessary for certification. He is starting a full-time job with Transamerica in mid-June.

Call says TU has undoubtedly prepared him to enter the workforce.

“Towson University has a phenomenal network for actuarial students,” he says. “The program has very good professors. If you put in the effort, they can help you with pretty much anything.”

Additionally, a group of five TU students—Shawn Endres, Jonathan Hempstead, Danielle Welker, Allison Zablow and Call—were finalists in the Society of Actuaries’ 2020 Student Research Case Study Challenge.

“ Employers understand the type of rigor required to get through this program. ”

Two other universities were finalists, in addition to the three schools that won first, second or third place.

Deng says students from TU have participated in the competition since 2017, and that last year’s groups also earned finalist and semifinalist status.

“Teams come from all over the world, not only North America, to do this competition,” she says.

Students take what they’ve learned in class and apply that knowledge to real-world problems. This year, students were tasked with looking at the actuarial valuation of carbon credits and coming up with solutions to reduce carbon output.

Call says working on the case study challenge was a good experience because it gave students the opportunity to work in teams and analyze the types of problems they will face in their careers.

The challenging classes, and the extra opportunities—the competitions, the networking and more—make TU’s actuarial science program a national stand out.

“Employers understand the type of rigor required to get through this program,” Call says. “I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in math, finance, economics or business and is willing to put in the work.”

This story is one of several related to President Kim Schatzel’s priorities for Towson University, TU Matters to Maryland.