What are our alumni doing?
Neil Biegalle
Graduation Year: ‘10
Major(s) and minor(s): math major
Post-grad education: I have received several professional designations: I am a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society (FCAS), and a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU).
Current position: Staff Actuary & Director of Exposure Management
Employer: Farmers Insurance
The most helpful aspects of my undergraduate education in mathematics were: The single most important skill that I learned in my mathematics education is the ability to approach an open-ended problem in new and creative ways. In the business world, you are typically not being asked to solve problems for which the answer is known. Problem-solving also happens to be the part of my job that I enjoy the most. There is never a shortage of fun business problems to solve, and I get plenty of opportunities to work on projects where I feel like my contributions are adding tangible value to the organization.
A close second to problem-solving would be communication. GVSU does an EXCELLENT job developing strong communication skills -- both written and verbal -- in their mathematics students. The ability to solve complex problems is great, and it can take you far. But, if you are able to solve complex problems AND communicate your ideas effectively to a wide variety of audiences, you will open up significantly more career opportunities for yourself.
The advice I’d offer to current undergraduate students in mathematics: I would advise any mathematics major to consider pairing their major with a minor that complements their math skills. Personally, as an actuary, would have benefited greatly if I had taken more courses in statistics and/or computer science. I would also encourage students to actively seek opportunities to develop their soft skills (join Toastmasters, or a professional writing workshop, for example). A mathematics major with strong soft skills can be a huge asset to almost ANY discipline. Every business has problems to solve, and mathematically-minded people that are strong communicators are among the best business-problem-solvers there are.
In a typical day in my work, I: lead a small team of predictive modelers and data analysts within the broader R&D team in the Farmers Specialty business unit. Within the R&D team, we work on a wide variety of projects, ranging from data delivery and visualization solutions to advanced predictive models. From a modeling perspective, our team works on everything from traditional insurance pricing models to natural language processing models. I am also heavily involved in using data and analytics to help our business partners better understand and manage our concentration of risk, so that we are not overly exposed to natural catastrophes. I am an Actuary by trade, so I am very involved with projects that relate to traditional actuarial work. I work closely with Actuarial, Product Management, Accounting, and the senior leadership team to help make sure that we are making smart, data-driven solutions wherever possible.
Other thoughts/comments: Grand Valley has an incredible Mathematics faculty. Take advantage of their time, knowledge, and wisdom while you can!
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