Other Fallen Colleagues

by Theresa W. Bourdon

Aon mourns the loss of several colleagues who, although not CAS members, had close ties to the casualty actuarial community.

Howard Kestenbaum, executive vice president in the Actuarial & Analytics Practice of Aon Risk Consultants, Inc., was a 24-year veteran of Aon and its predecessor companies. Howard was graduated from Williams College and earned his masters and Ph.D. in physics from Columbia University. Howard was a well-respected, national leader in serving the analytical needs of the Aon brokerage community and their clients. He was chairman of the Actuarial & Analytics Steering Committee, providing leadership and strategic planning to the practice. Howard was especially well known at Aon for developing and maintaining many of the financial models used by the Aon actuarial, analytical, and brokerage community. A great leader and mentor to all who knew him, Howard was also a special friend to his colleagues. His close associate at Aon, Judy Wein, says it best, "His guidance, brilliance, warmth, practicality, strength, stability, and `specialness' will be missed beyond words."

Michael Lomax, was an FIA and executive vice president of Aon Re Services in New York. Michael was a dynamic and widely respected leader within Aon Re and was a credit to the Institute of Actuaries here in the United States. During his tenure at Aon Re Services, he played an instrumental role in the development of our dynamic financial analysis tools. He was also an impressive consultant and held the widespread respect of actuaries at the many clients of Aon Re whom he served tirelessly. In the words of his colleague, John Aquino, "Every member of the Aon Re Services team loved Michael dearly." Michael is survived by his wife, Erica Partosoedarso.

Vijayashanker Paramsothy, a consultant in the Actuarial & Analytics Practice of Aon Risk Consultants, was graduated with a BS in actuarial science from the College of Insurance in New York. Vijay joined Aon in January 2000. He received an MBA from the College of Insurance in May 2001. In that same month he also earned his ARM. He had passed three actuarial exams and was continuing his pursuit of the actuarial designation. He was also taking the tests for a CFA (chartered financial analyst). Vijay was one of the most pleasant, bright, and hard working individuals you could have the pleasure to know. He mastered the risk financing models of his unit quickly and soon began enhancing them to be more efficient. His professional career, though unfairly short, was full of accomplishments. A citizen of Malaysia, Vijay had friends and family around the world. His friendly personality and positive outlook on life instantly charmed everyone who came in contact with Vijay. He is dearly missed.