25 Years Ago in The Actuarial Review

by Walter C. Wright

Clive Keatinge's argument in favor of a united profession, printed in our November 2001 issue of The AR, prompted responses from Donald Mango (for) and John Mahon (against). We urge members to make their views known on this important topic. Curiously, this topic was of major concern 25 years ago, as shown in George D. Morison's "From the President," which appeared in the January 1977 issue of The AR:

One of the first requests that reached me on returning from San Diego was to help in the selection of a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries to chair a committee which was being formed to engage in discussions with representatives of the Casualty Actuarial Society and other actuarial organizations. I mention this incident to illustrate, in very dramatic fashion, just how far we have progressed in collaborative efforts among the several actuarial organizations.

To our newer members, such actions might appear quite normal and logical, but to those who were involved in CAS leadership roles in years past—when the very existence of the Society was often overlooked—this new status might well be viewed as a major achievement.

It seems to me that an awareness of this brighter (in the eyes of other actuaries) image of the CAS should help our members to consider and discuss the subject of amalgamation of actuarial organizations in a less emotional atmosphere than in the past. As Harold Schloss reports elsewhere in these pages, some earlier discussions have indeed been fraught with "emotional overtones." It is my contention that we need no longer react emotionally to the concept.