Meet the Mathematical Sciences Department

Alumni of the Semester

For Drew Tindall, a recent graduate of IPFW with a major in mathematics - actuarial science option, life is very good indeed! He has a job he likes with Swiss Re in Fort Wayne, is about to become a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, and is engaged to be married in June of 2003.

Path to success: Drew graduated from Churubusco High School in 1995 and started his college career at IPFW that fall. Through a friend he found out about job opportunities for actuaries at Lincoln Life Insurance Company, and was intrigued. He decided to major in mathematics and pursue the actuarial science option. During his first years at IPFW he worked part-time at the Magic Wand in Churubusco. Then, in 1997 he took and passed the first Society of Actuaries examination. This enabled him to secure a summer internship at Lincoln Life in 1998. He worked part-time for Lincoln Life the following academic year and again as a summer intern in 1999. After receiving his degree from IPFW, Drew was offered a permanent position at Lincoln Life as an actuary. At the time that Swiss Re bought the reinsurance division of Lincoln Life, Drew was working in reinsurance and moved to Swiss Re. As Drew describes it, one of the most important jobs of an actuary during the first years is to pass the actuarial examinations. He took advantage of the on-the-job study time allowed by Lincoln Life and Swiss Re to systematically pass all of the examinations. He has also done the professional development required, and only has to attend a brief seminar before he is officially admitted as a Fellow of the Actuarial Society. He is currently working in research and development at Swiss Re and enjoys what he is doing very much.

Personal side: Drew met his fiancee Marsha while he was working at Lincoln Life. She is now working for Swiss Re in the administrative area. They are planning a wedding for June 28, 2003, and are having a house built in the Roanoke area. In his free time Drew enjoys participating in sports, especially golf and bowling. He played lots of tennis and basketball until a knee injury forced him to curtail these activities. His favorite TV show is “Ed” and his favorite recent movie was “Gladiator”. Drew also enjoys tracking and analyzing the stock and bond markets.

IPFW years: Drew says that his courses at IPFW were very good and certainly helped prepare him for his career as an actuary. He remembers Professors Chauhan and Zubovic as good teachers who were also pretty demanding! He also remembers playing basketball with Professor Pan (before the knee problems!) and was pleased to hear that Professor Pan is still playing basketball.

Advice for Actuarial Science Option students: Start taking the actuarial science exams early. If you want to be an actuary you will have to focus on passing the exams. There is a lot of information about the actuarial science exams available on the web. Drew said that he found the ACTEX manuals to be very helpful when studying for the exams.