MathNews

Each fall, the College of Science and its programs recognize outstanding Purdue alumni.

Kent H. Somers is the 2009 Outstanding Actuarial Science alumnus.  He is Vice President, Appointed Actuary, and Head of the Financial Actuarial Department of the Lincoln Financial Group. He also serves on the Executive Steering Committee for the Actuarial Development Program at Lincoln.

After receiving his B.S. in mathematics in 1986, Mr. Somers joined Lincoln as part of the actuarial science program. Prior to serving in his current role, he headed the Life & Annuity Valuation Department. Other positions held at Lincoln include Valuation Actuary, Director of Asset/Liability Management, and Assistant Appointed Actuary.

Mr. Somers is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA). He earned his Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst (CERA) credential, and he is a CFA Charterholder.

Mr. Somers was honored along with other outstanding alumni of the Mathematics and Statistics Departments at a dinner on Thursday, September 24. The College of Science hosted a reception for all CoS outstanding alumni on September 25.

Each fall, the Department of Mathematics and the College of Science recognize outstanding Purdue alumni.

Alex Himonas, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Notre Dame, is the 2009 Outstanding Mathematics Alumnus.

Prof. Himonas received his Ph.D. in mathematics in 1985 under the direction of Salah Baouendi. Prof. Himonas is interested in the regularity of solutions to linear partial differential equations (PDE), and in the Cauchy problem for nonlinear evolution equations. His earlier work concentrated on the microlocal analytic regularity of the solutions to principal type PDE with analytic coefficients. More recently, he is working on the regularity theory (analytic, smooth) for degenerate elliptic PDE, in particular PDE that are sums of squares of vector fields. In non-linear PDE, he is working on the well-posedness of the initial value problem for evolution equations.

Prof. Himonas gave a talk on Thursday, September 24 at 4:30 p.m. in BRNG 1230. Following the talk, there was a dinner in honor of Prof. Himonas and outstanding alumni of the Department of Statistics and the Actuarial Science program. The College of Science hosted a reception for all CoS outstanding alumni on September 25.

Jeffrey A. Beckley (FSA, MAAA), Professional Actuary in Residence and Co-Director of the Purdue Actuarial Science Program, has been elected to a three-year term on the Board of Directors of the Society of Actuaries (SOA).

The SOA is an education, research, and professional organization dedicated to serving the public and its 20,000 members. The SOA’s vision is for actuaries to be the leading professionals in the measurement and management of risk. The SOA’s mission is to advance actuarial knowledge and to enhance the ability of actuaries to provide expert advice and relevant solutions for financial, business, and societal problems involving uncertain future events.

As a member of the actuarial science program faculty, Beckley has taught at Purdue since 2004. Each year, science undergraduate students select the faculty member whose teaching has had the greatest impact on science majors. In 2005-06 and 2006-07, he was voted the College of Science Outstanding Undergraduate Teacher, and his name regularly appears in their list of top ten teachers.

After graduating from Ball State University with a degree in actuarial science, Beckley held executive positions with Lafayette Life Insurance and Standard Life Insurance before starting his own firm, Beckley & Associates, in 1986. His actuarial consulting firm was purchased in 1999 by Deloitte & Touche, for whom Beckley worked until 2004.

From 1981-95, Beckley served on several of the Society of Actuaries committees that write the actuarial exams. He began by writing exam questions and eventually became the Chairperson of the Examination committee, and finally, Vice General Chairperson of the Education and Examination Committee.

Beckley is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA) and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries (MAAA). He won the 2001 President’s Award for outstanding service to the SOA. He previously served on the Ball State actuarial advisory board and has been on Purdue’s actuarial science advisory board since 1998.

Freshmen Mathematics Majors were invited to a Freshmen Math Undergrad get-together on Thursday, Sept. 17 from 3:30 pm until 5 pm in Lawson Commons (LWSN) to meet other mathematics majors, faculty and staff.