From the President

Looking Back and Forth by Alice H. Gannon

A year ago, the world looked forward to the arrival of the year 2000 with varying de-grees of anticipation, excitement, and anxiety. There was, of course, widespread concern about the possible devastating problems that could result if automated systems could not handle the change to "00." But there was also the sense of new possibilities that the start of a new millennium offered. (Even actuaries with their love of technical correctness couldn't help but get somewhat caught up in the new millennium hype despite knowing that 2000 is really the last year of the old millennium.)

For the CAS, we had our own unique list of 2000 issues that promised to make 2000 a year of change, new possibilities, and new challenges. A year ago I anticipated that 2000 would be an exciting and productive year for the CAS. How did it turn out?

1. Topping the CAS 2000 list was the transition to the new exam structure and syllabus to strengthen the education process for the casualty actuary of the future. Thanks to the great efforts of many CAS volunteers, most aspects of this major transition went well. As expected, there are some areas where improvements are still needed, and even before the May exam sitting there were many CAS volunteers hard at work to identify enhancements and implement them as quickly as possible. I know some CAS members and students are impatient to see more improvements sooner. What everyone may not be aware of is that there are many improvement efforts already underway.

While in every year the admissions committees work to make the education and examination process better, in 2000 there has been an extra emphasis in that regard. Those efforts will continue into 2001. Special CAS task forces, as well as the standing committees, are aggressively pursuing a wide range of initiatives that will move the CAS toward an ever better education and examination system.

I encourage all Fellows who have any concerns or ideas about our education process to volunteer to work on these committees and task forces. While constructive criticism by itself is always welcome, the CAS members who really make a difference are those who offer not only criticism but also solutions along with their time and energy in the implementation of those solutions.

2. Another change for 2000 was a revised governance structure to better support the CAS's international strategy. The addition of a vice president-international and associated committee structure will provide enhanced services to CAS members working internationally and focus more efforts on the CAS's role in the international actuarial community. With these changes the CAS is already more involved and visible within the International Actuarial Association. We will now be able to respond more efficiently to requests from other countries for assistance with "nonlife" actuarial issues. We also brought a continuing education opportunity closer to our members in Europe by cosponsoring in London a Special Interest Seminar on Dynamic Financial Analysis with the Institute of Actuaries. Plans for another seminar in October 2001 in Scotland are well underway.

3. In 2000 we launched four new advisory committees to support CAS members who already work or who want to work in four key nontraditional practice areas. These four committees will identify research and education initiatives the CAS should pursue in the areas of Asset/Liability Management and Investment Policy, Valuation of P/C Insurance Companies, Enterprise Risk Management, and Securitization/Risk Financing. Casualty actuaries are already well suited to the analysis and solution of a much broader array of risk challenges than those in our traditional practice areas. With the CAS now committed to a well-focused effort to expand casualty actuarial science and the associated education of casualty actuaries further into these four new areas, there will be even greater value for casualty actuaries to bring to a wide range of business and financial risks.

4. This year saw the introduction of a dues discount for members who chose to receive the Forum and Discussion Paper Program books electronically. The CAS's Committee on Online Services also continued their expansion of the information and services available to members and the public via the Web site with the addition of the complete collection of the ASTIN Bulletin, more back issues of the CAS Proceedings, numerous CAS surveys, Future Fellows publications, and the list goes on and on. The CAS has a very active and effective group of volunteers and staff to assure the best online service possible and they definitely delivered that in 2000.

5. Growth of our society continued at a rapid pace with Mike Walters' 1987 prediction that the year 2000 would see the CAS gain its 2,000^th Fellow coming true. Our Fellowship rolls have risen from 1,923 at the end of 1999 to 2,068 today. Our total membership grew from 3,282 to 3,468. To assure continued excellent staff support of the CAS membership, we acquired additional office space (same location at 1100 North Glebe Road, Suite 250) and expanded the staff by three positions. The CAS has one of the most outstanding staffs of any professional organization. It is a small but incredibly productive and skilled group of individuals. I encourage all CAS members to get to know them and thank them for their great service to our organization.

There are many more activities I could mention, but I think this list gives a sense of how exciting and productive the year 2000 was for the CAS. Due to the efforts of many dedicated volunteers accompanied by strong staff support, it was a really great year. Having accomplished so much in a year that was, in fact, the dying breath of the old millennium, just think how much we can accomplish in 2001 when the new millennium begins!