16 March 2016
The third annual IFoA Awards Dinner took place at Staple Inn Hall on 10 March. Hosted by the IFoA President Fiona Morrison, this evening’s dinner celebrated success and excellence in academic achievements and leading research with prizes and medals. Fiona Morrison commented “These achievements not only help to promote the value actuaries bring to businesses, government and society but also to advance the development of actuarial science”.
This year, our prize-winners were joined by some special guests including Adrian Waddingham CBE who can be seen above receiving the prestigious Finlaison Medal for his service to the profession. Adrian has had a successful career as a consulting actuary and is a former partner of consulting firm Barnett Waddingham. We were also joined by IFoA Honorary Fellow, Baroness Sally Greengross OBE, who delivered an inspiring after-dinner speech. Baroness Greengross shared her insights and experience as a member of the House of Lords and Chief Executive of the International Longevity Centre – UK.
We were also delighted to be joined by the winners of two inaugural prizes - Geoffrey Heywood Prize and Finance Specialist Applications Prize. The Geoffrey Heywood Prize is awarded for a paper or journal article that demonstrates excellent levels of communication and engagement. This prize was presented by Seb Frichot, grandson of Geoffrey Heywood, to the Non-traditional Investments Working Party. The Finance Specialist Applications Prize was established from a bequest left by the family of Institute of Actuaries Treasurer Arthur Wolfe Joseph. This prize is awarded to the best performing students in Finance Specialist Applications (SA5) exam and was presented by Anthony Joseph, son of Arthur Wolfe Joseph, to Aideen McDaid and Daniel Evans.
Other prizes are similarly the result of the generosity of the wider actuarial community. These include prizes from the International Underwriting Association, Willis Towers Watson and the Worshipful Company of Actuaries. Other prizes awarded on the night were Peter Clark Prize for Best Paper, which was awarded to Model Risk Working Party, and Brian Hey Prize which was for the first time shared between two winning Working Parties, Actuarial Function Working Party and Getting Better Judgement Working Party.
A number of working party members donated their prize money to charities including the NSPCC, Together for Short Lives, Crisis and Mind.
The Sir Joseph Burn prize is awarded to UK students showing special merit in completing the examinations and becoming eligible to transfer to the class of Fellow. This prize was presented to Peter Lowth and Pui Shan Mok. Our Changing Future Prize was presented by Suzanne Vaughan, leader of the Scottish Board, to Simon Jones, Saker Nusseibeh and Richard Werner for their presentation on Sustainability and the Financial System.
You can read more about our prizes and awards here.