Gannon Calls on CAS to Keep Focused

Washington, DC.—CAS President Alice H. Gannon challenged the CAS to "to keep the main thing the main thing" during her presidential address, delivered here during a luncheon that was part of the 2000 CAS Annual Meeting, held November 12-15. "There has always been a statement of purpose in our constitution," said Gannon. "But what is really important, is that a large number of active CAS members have frequently engaged in discussion about the meaning and implications of the CAS's purpose such that...the CAS's purpose...has been well understood by most of the active members." Gannon acknowledged that in recent years knowing and understanding the Society's purpose and keeping focus has become more difficult. "My advice to all future leaders of the CAS is to be mindful of the importance of keeping the CAS's purpose defined and well understood by the membership and keeping that purpose at the center of the CAS's activities," said Gannon.	Alice Gannon presides over the meeting
		Gannon congratulates Rodermund Service Award winner, 'Chap' Cook

	New Fellows Andrea Wynne Malyon, left, and Shu C. Lin listen intently	More than 600 attendees gathered for the meeting, which featured two Proceedings paper presentations and numerous educational sessions. At the annual business session on November 13, the CAS honored 31 new Associates who were inducted as new members and 135 new Fellows. Former CAS president Charles C. Hewitt (1972) addressed the new members, challenging them to pursue excellence and to give back. "With all that you have been given, now is the time to rise and to give of yourselves," said Hewitt. "My second challenge is this—that some time during your careers or your lifetimes, you will stop and, figuratively speaking, plant a tree under whose shade you will never sit." Several award winners were also honored during the business session. Charles "Chap" Cook was awarded the Matthew Rodermund Service Award. For the second year in a row, Stephen J. Mildenhall was awarded the Woodward-Fondiller Prize. Mildenhall's prize-winning paper is a discussion of Michael G. Wacek's paper, "Application of the Option Market Paradigm to the Solution of Insurance Problems." The paper will be published in the 2000 Proceedings and can be found on the CAS Web Site under publications. Uwe Schmock of ETH Zurich was awarded the 2000 Hachemeister Prize. Schmock later presented his paper, "Estimating the Value of the WINCAT Coupons of the Winterthur Insurance Convertible Bond: A Study of Model Risk."
Charles C. Hewitt addresses new members
LeRoy Boison, right, presents the Hachemeister Prize to Uwe Schmock