The Actuarial Foundation is proud to announce the finalists in the 2019 Modeling the Future Challenge, a national scholarship competition aimed at introducing the actuarial profession to high school students.  Selected from a total of 191 teams of high school juniors and seniors from across the country, the Modeling the Future Challenge finalists are; Alex Alvarado, Logan Garland, Maddie Moody, and Ezra Odole from Central Academy in Des Moines, Iowa; David Xu, Jennifer Wang, Tasin Mashriqi, Madhav Subramanian and Angie Li from Jericho High School in Jericho, New York; Karina Halevy, Rushil Arora, Joshua Hejna, Shawn Huang, and Maxwell Liu from Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California; Mary Caroline Heinen, Ryan Kaplan, Derek Chen, Thomas Blue, and Nicolas Ferree from Maggie Walker Governors School in Richmond, Virginia; Henry Coates, Nikhil Brahmapuram, Russell Graviet, Jr., Shivani Kundalia, and Madoc Kimball from Maggie Walker Governors School, Richmond, Virginia; Olivia Krivitsky and Sunay Joshi from Bergen County Academies in Hackensack, New Jersey; Jason Chiu and Abigail Lam from St. Ignatius College Preparatory, San Francisco in California; Alex Schroeder, James Richard, Jack Kern, Michael Meunier and Oliver Barravechia from iSTEM Geauga Early College High School, Concord Township, Ohio; and Becca Heidt from Waukee APEX in  Waukee, Iowa.

This year’s Challenge was incredibly competitive with student teams working to develop mathematical models of how future cures or treatments for diseases may affect our lives. Teams had to first pass a qualifying round of scenario response topics to demonstrate their mathematical acumen. Seventy Challenge semi-finalists were then paired with actuary mentors who helped guide the students as they did research, data analysis and drafted their final papers.

In designing the Challenge, the Foundation and its partner, the Institute of Competition Sciences, wanted students to learn how mathematics applies to cutting-edge industries and technologies and to gain exposure to highly sought-after careers as actuaries and other math-related professionals.   “I’m pleased that The Actuarial Foundation has created an opportunity for students to see how mathematics, modeling, and their imagination can be applied to analyze major issues that affect society. Actuaries use these skills daily to serve the public. We hope that this competition will give students an incentive to continue to develop their mathematical skills and apply them for the public good,” said Roy Goldman, FSA, MAAA, CERA, Trustee of The Actuarial Foundation and Modeling the Future Challenge committee member.

The nine finalist teams will travel to the Modeling the Future Symposium in Chicago to present their models of the future to a panel of actuaries for the opportunity to win up to $55,000 in scholarship awards. The Symposium, held April 11 and 12, will give finalists the chance to meet with actuaries, learn about college and career opportunities, and explore the city.

The Modeling the Future Challenge is made possible with the generous support of Founding Sponsor Roy and Georgia Goldman, Executive Sponsor Lincoln Financial Group, Champion Sponsor RGA and Event Sponsor Rick and Bethany Jones.