Academy Honors Bailey for Public Service

Robert A. Bailey, former first deputy insurance commissioner for the state of Michigan, is the 1999 recipient of the Robert J. Myers Public Service Award of the American Academy of Actuaries. Bailey, who accepted the honor at the May 27 Academy Washington Luncheon, is the first actuary in casualty practice to receive the award.

In presenting the award, Academy President Richard S. Robertson cited the words of casualty actuary Michael Lamb, one of those who nominated Bailey. "'Much of Bob's career was spent with the state of Michigan and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) service office, where his intelligence and self-discipline enabled him to make many formative contributions to the regulatory database, solvency tests, and profitability concepts that we embrace today. Probably no other single individual has contributed so much to our ability to intelligently regulate casualty insurers for the public interest.'"

As chief casualty actuary of the Michigan Insurance Bureau from 1965 until 1974, and as first deputy commissioner from 1991 until 1997, Bailey developed one of the first computerized audits of property/casualty financial statements. He was instrumental in the development of the NAIC Early Warning System, now called the Insurance Regulatory Information System. As director of the NAIC Database from January 1974 until February 1981, he helped bring casualty insurance regulation into the computer age.

Bailey is a 1951 graduate of the University of Iowa, where he earned an M.S. in actuarial science in 1953. He is a Fellow of the CAS and has served on both the CAS and Academy boards of directors. In addition to his governmental service, Bailey's actuarial career has included employment by private firms, including the A.M. Best Company and E.W. Blanch Company.

Bailey is a second-generation actuary; his father was Arthur Bailey, a former New York state insurance regulator. The contributions that both Baileys made to the development of credibility theory are described in a feature article in the April North American Actuarial Journal, published by the Society of Actuaries.

The Robert J. Myers Public Service Award, presented annually to an actuary who has made a noteworthy contribution to the public good, is named for the former chief actuary of the Social Security Administration. Previous years' recipients are former California regulator John Montgomery (1995); Guy King, former chief actuary of the Health Care Financing Administration (1996); James Gardiner of the New York State Department of Insurance (1997); and Dwight K. Bartlett III, former Social Security chief actuary and Maryland insurance commissioner (1998).