Nonactuarial Pursuits of Casualty Actuaries

City of Hope

by Brian D. Haney

In 1913, two tents were erected at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains in California to treat people suffering from tuberculosis. This makeshift facility eventually grew into the City of Hope, a research and medical treatment center. Today it focuses primarily, but not exclusively, on cancer research and treatment.

The City of Hope truly is a remarkable enterprise. It has 107 full-time physicians, 180 research scientists, and over 2,600 employees. It is one of the largest providers of bone marrow transplant services in the U.S. What is even more amazing is that as a nonprofit organization, the City of Hope funds the majority of its research and treatments through donations and volunteer efforts.

Since 1993, the insurance industry has participated in the City of Hope effort to fight cancer through the City of Hope Insurance Industry Council. Through fund-raising dinners and direct contributions, the Council raises money that goes towards the City of Hope's research efforts. In 1998, the Council raised $810,000 for breast cancer treatment and research. At their fund-raising dinner, they honored the president of the Insurance Industry Council, who happens to be a Fellow.

In a recent conversation with this Fellow, I learned about her involvement in the fund-raising efforts of the City of Hope, and she explained to me why this effort was so important. For the City of Hope, as for other research organizations, the federal government provides money to fund the research. The catch is that to get government funding, some initial results from the research have to be shown. Consequently, money to fund the research projects initially is crucial, because it allows the scientists to show some results, which can then lead to larger funding from the government. In this way, private donations, like those raised by the Insurance Industry Council, act as "seed" money for future research, and have a leveraged impact.

Of course the main reason that raising funds for cancer research is important is that cancer affects us all. According to the Fellow I spoke with, 1 in 9 women in the U.S. will be affected by breast cancer, not to mention all the other people affected by all the other forms of cancer. This Fellow said that it was gratifying to see that she could make a difference, and she encourages other actuaries who might be considering fund-raising work or other charitable work to do it.

One of the most interesting things, from my perspective, was how this Fellow related being a leader in the Council to being a leader in the insurance industry. She said that they both require complex problem-solving skills and that the organization skills learned and honed in the business world are of great use when working with the Council. She said that leading any institution is "about developing a vision and a strategy and communicating it." I would think she would know, because this Fellow is Heidi Hutter, president of Swiss Re America.