The Actuarial Science Advisory Board consists of actuarial leaders from the business community and leading academic actuaries with a common interest in the future of actuarial students from Arizona State University. Board members provide industry perspective on developing curriculum, recruiting prospective students, fundraising, and developing research projects.
George Belokas, FCAS, MAAA
GPW and Associates, Inc.
George Belokas is president and CEO of GPW. His actuarial experience is focused in reserving and pricing for commercial lines products in reinsurance and captive insurance programs. Lines of business include workers’ compensation, property, general liability, medical malpractice, and alternative property and casualty insurance risks. Belokas is also experienced in various finance and insurance products, including vehicle service contracts, guaranteed asset protection, and tire and wheel. He is a fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics from Arizona State University.
Michael P. Brunner, FSA, MAAA, CERA
Centene Corporation
Michael Brunner is director of actuarial services for Centene Corporation, based out of their office in Tempe. He develops product-level reporting and analysis for executive leadership and partners with leaders and market teams to design and coordinate actuarial strategy related to Medicaid redeterminations. He also directs efforts to provide guidance and information to investors and external parties.
Prior to Centene he worked as a health and benefits consultant for large employer groups and with a healthcare company on the east coast in a number of roles including commercial pricing, ACA strategy, provider contracting and Enterprise Risk Management. Brunner graduated from Arizona State with Bachelor of Science in actuarial science, and is currently attending ASU Online working towards a Master's degree in healthcare innovation. He is a fellow of the Society of Actuaries, a member of the American Academy of Actuaries, and Chartered Enterprise Risk Actuary.
Kevin G. Donovan, ACAS, MAAA
Nautilus Insurance Company (a Berkley company)
Kevin Donovan is senior vice president and chief actuary for Nautilus Insurance Company. Prior to joining Nautilus, he spent 25 years at Nationwide E&S/Specialty in various actuarial roles with the last 13 years leading the reserving function and overseeing $4 billion in reserves covering property and casualty commercial lines, commercial automobile liability lines, management liability, professional lines and pet insurance. He received a Bachelor of Science in economics and mathematics from SUNY Binghamton. Donovan is an associate of the Casualty Actuarial Society, a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and is a past president of the Casualty Actuaries of the Desert States. He is also active in the community and is a past graduate of Scottsdale Leadership, served on their board and is currently on the nonprofit Partners for Paiute board for the past five years serving in the roles of treasurer and president.
Tim Doyle, FSA, MAAA
CBIZ Optumas
Tim Doyle is a managing director and senior actuary at CBIZ Optumas. He provides program, strategy, and operational consulting services and actuarial analysis for a variety of projects related to health care reform. Doyle also develops and certifies rates for Medicaid populations compliant with the CMS Rate Setting Checklist for use by states in contracting with managed care organizations, including long-term care and behavioral health populations. In addition, he has developed upper payment limits for use in PACE programs compliant with the Upper Payment Limit (UPL) Checklist.
Jeffrey Durham, FCAS
EY
Jeffrey Durham is a manager in the Insurance and Actuarial Consulting Services practice of EY, where he focuses on transforming actuarial departments to operate more effectively through technology, people, and innovation. He previously held roles at various surplus lines insurance companies pricing property and liability risks for both commercial and personal lines. Durham is an ASU alumnus and was the first graduate of the actuarial science program. He has shown continued support for the program through his advocacy as CAS university liaison, and active volunteering with Gamma Iota Sigma. Durham is currently the vice president of Casualty Actuaries of the Desert States (CADS), a regional affiliate of the CAS.
Kyle Edrington
Edrington Health Consulting (an HMA company)
Kyle Edrington is the Managing Director of Edrington Health Consulting (EHC), a Health Management Associates (HMA) company. Prior to joining HMA, Edrington founded EHC in 2014, where he was responsible for the design, development, and communication of all client engagements as well as the growth of its actuarial consulting staff and general infrastructure. Working mostly with Medicaid stakeholders for 15 years, he has partnered with states and health plans to understand and mitigate risks associated with fundamental shifts in the market. Edrington earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Arizona State University and participated in the actuarial club, serving as vice president, during his time at ASU.
Bernon R. Erickson, Jr., ASA, FCA, MAAA
Actuarial Strategies and Tactics, Inc.
Bernie Erickson is the founder of Actuarial Strategies and Tactics (AST), a leading innovator in medical insurance actuarial program management. AST focuses on helping small blocks of business thrive in a market dominated by super-sized competitors, maintaining active, long term relationships with third party administrators, managing general underwriters, independent marketing organizations, small carriers, and quota share reinsurers. Prior to creating AST, Erickson was chief actuary and senior vice president at Independence Holding Company. As a key member of their executive management team, he helped build a $250 million fully insured division, comprised of multiple operating companies, over 400 people, and a complex diversified product mix. He is an expert in insurance product design and development, valuation matters, risk management, and the challenging and changing regulatory framework for insurance, especially strategies and tactics related to the Affordable Care Act implementation.
Karen Garrity
Karen Garrity has over twenty years of healthcare analytics experience primarily focused on profitability of health insurance programs through management of actuarial analyst teams. As a consultant, Garrity has developed an extensive knowledge of data analysis, tool and systems development, management reporting, financial projections, and recommendations on risk. She has product line experience in group and individual major medical, dental, vision, limited medical, short-term medical, and pet insurance. She has led functions such as actuarial analysis, provider reimbursement analysis, business development, client services, project management, Human Resources, and office management. Garrity worked with Dragonfly Actuarial in 2019-2021 to provide part-time analytical and recruiting support for the growing team. She is a proud Sun Devil, graduating from ASU in 1999 with a Bachelor of Science in finance and a minor in mathematics.
Drew Gordon, ACAS
Ryan Specialty
Drew Gordon is a claims analyst lead at Ryan Specialty, an international specialty insurance firm that provides distribution, underwriting, product development, administration and risk management services by acting as a wholesale broker and a managing underwriter. Their mission is to provide industry-leading innovative specialty insurance solutions for insurance brokers, agents and carriers. Gordon graduated from ASU with a bachelor's degree in actuarial science and has worked in the insurance industry for over six years.
Matthew Hassett, PhD
Arizona State University
Matt Hassett is professor emeritus of mathematics at Arizona State University where he taught from 1966 to 1999. He worked in industry as a health actuary from 1999 to 2005, and continues to write and work with actuarial students. He has published papers in mathematical logic, mathematics education, finance and actuarial science. He is currently a principal of the consulting firm LegalBizDev. Hassett has co-authored an introductory statistics textbook, the probability textbook Probability for Risk Management and the ACTEX study guides for exams FM, MLC and MFE of the Society of Actuaries. He also has consulting experience in mathematical analysis of mortgage-backed securities and their derivatives. Dr. Hassett was an associate of the Society of Actuaries until 2008.
Amanda Kemling, FCAS, MAAA
GPW and Associates
As an actuary for actuarial and consulting firm GPW and Associates, Inc., Amanda Kemling is responsible for pricing, reserving, and product development for a variety of insurance coverages, including finance and insurance products and traditional property and casualty commercial insurance. Her fields of expertise include workers’ compensation, vehicle service contracts, general liability and auto liability. She also provides actuarial services for captives, domiciled both in and outside the United States, in various industries. Prior to GPW, Kemling was an associate actuary at Scottsdale Insurance responsible for pricing and catastrophe modeling and has also been a college instructor for actuarial science courses. She is a fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society, a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and is a past president of the Casualty Actuaries of the Desert States. She received a master's degree in statistics with an actuarial science concentration from Northern Arizona University and a Bachelor of Science in mathematics from Peru State College.
Kelsi Knoles
Open Lending
Kelsi Knoles is a senior actuarial analyst for Open Lending. Prior to joining Open Lending, Knoles was an actuarial analyst with IAT Insurance Group, where she primarily worked with the E&S business leads by providing support in actuarial pricing, reserving, growth strategy and catastrophe mitigation. She also worked as an actuarial analyst at Nationwide Insurance where she focused on providing countrywide actuarial support for the admitted book of business. Knoles obtained a B.S. in actuarial science from Arizona State University and is working to become an associate of the Casualty Actuarial Society.
Ken Levine, FCAS, CHIC
Pivix Specialty Insurance Services Inc.
In September of 2024, Levine joined Pivix Specialty Insurance Services Inc. as CFO and Chief Actuary. He previously served as vice president of finance and chief financial officer for Nationwide E&S/Specialty. He joined Nationwide in 1996 and served in various actuarial roles, including vice president and chief actuary from 2006-2015. He has a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in Troy, NY, is a fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society, and a certified coach with the Hudson Institute of Santa Barbara. He is a past president of the Arizona Actuarial Club and the Casualty Actuaries of the Desert States. Levine has taught a course for ASU's actuarial sciences program, and in 2017 he and his wife endowed the Levine Family Actuarial Scholarship.
Katherine Long, FSA, MAAA
Mercer
Katherine Long is a partner in the Government Human Services Consulting practice at Mercer. This specialty practice focuses on government actuarial consulting for some of the nation's largest, most complex Medicaid programs. Long oversees large, multi-discipline teams with hands-on experience developing and certifying Medicaid managed care capitation rates across various services and populations. Additionally, she has expertise in provider reimbursement and State Directed Payments, value-based purchasing design and implementation, and Medicaid managed care policy and regulations.
Long is a fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries. She actively supports women in the actuarial industry through mentorship and community engagement as an executive sponsor for the Women@Mercer business resource group and a member of NAWA: Network of Actuarial Women and Allies. Long is a third-generation Sun Devil with degrees in biology and mathematics from Barrett, The Honors College. During her time at ASU, she served as secretary of the actuarial club.
Fred Motz, ASA, MAAA
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona
Fred Motz is staff vice president of actuarial services and chief actuary for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona. He was previously vice president of actuarial services for Optum Health Behavioral Solutions. Motz has also led actuarial services for a number of regional leaders in healthcare, including Oxford, Health Net, and Health Springs. He began his career with CIGNA and was an actuarial consultant for the accounting and consulting firm of EY. He is a graduate of Rhodes College in Tennessee and received his Master's of Actuarial Science from Georgia State University. He is an associate of the Society of Actuaries and a member of both the American Association of Actuaries and the International Association of Actuaries.
Robert Simmons, ASA, MAAA, ALMI
Oxford Life Insurance Company
Rob Simmons is the vice president and chief actuary of Oxford Life Insurance Company. Simmons began as an actuarial analyst at Oxford Life in 2006, conducting the valuation of life, annuity, Medicare Supplement, and credit reserves on a GAAP, statutory and tax basis. He was also responsible for completing the company's annual cash flow testing and gross premium valuations. In 2007, Simmons became an associate of the Society of Actuaries and gained the signing authority to write actuarial opinions for Oxford Life. In 2009, he was promoted to valuation actuary of Oxford Life, overseeing all functions involving the setting of reserves, along with the management of a team of actuarial analysts. In 2011, he was promoted to chief actuary of Oxford Life, where along with overseeing the valuation team, he also oversees the product development functions of the actuarial department, where a multi-year guaranteed annuity and fixed-indexed annuity were developed to great success. Simmons graduated from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada with an Honors Bachelor of Commerce, focusing on accounting and finance. Prior to working at Oxford Life, he held positions outside the actuarial field as a financial analyst, but his actuarial career began at Western & Southern Financial Group in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Gabe Smith, ASA, MAAA
Mercer
Gabe Smith is a senior principal and actuary in the Government Human Services Consulting practice at Mercer. He provides consulting services and oversees actuarial analysis for a variety of projects; he specializes in Medicaid acute care and managed long-term care capitated rate development, PACE upper payment limit calculations, health care reform, and expense projections. He received his Bachelor of Science in mathematics with an actuarial science specialization from Central Washington University in 2004. Smith is an associate of the Society of Actuaries and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries.
Lydia Tolman, FSA, MAAA
Wakely Consulting Group (an HMA company)
Lydia Tolman is a senior consulting actuary at Wakely Consulting Group, focusing on strategy and pricing for commercial health plans. Prior to Wakely, Tolman served in various actuarial roles at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, most recently as a senior manager of a small team focused on reserving and financial planning. She received a Bachelor of Science in both mathematics and economics from Arizona State University in 2008. She is a fellow in the Society of Actuaries and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries.
Kinsey Turk, ACAS
Allstate
Kinsey Kiffmeyer Turk graduated from ASU in 2021 with her bachelors and master’s degrees in actuarial science. From there, she joined Allstate where she works as an actuarial assistant under the independent agent lines. She recently obtained her ACAS credential in May of 2024 and is working towards her FCAS. Outside of work, Turk is passionate about volunteering with actuarial organizations to help further the profession. She serves as Vice President of the Casualty Actuaries of the Desert States (CADS) and works with the Network of Actuarial Women and Allies (NAWA) on the measurement and reporting committee. She is also highly involved in the ASU actuarial program through her work moderating young professional panels, presenting to actuarial classes, or judging CAS case study competitions.
Hailey Walters, ACAS
Allstate
Hailey Walters is a senior actuarial assistant at Allstate Insurance Company. She works on pricing for home and auto personal lines. She spent several years on a countrywide team working on the development and implementation of a new auto product and now works on a state team focusing on a variety of actuarial projects. Walters received her ACAS in May of 2024 and is nearing the completion of the FCAS credential. She is also an Arizona State University alum, graduating with a master’s degree in actuarial science in 2019.
John Zicarelli, PhD, CFA, FCAS
John Zicarelli retired from Scottsdale Insurance as vice president of strategy and risk management. Prior to that position, he led much of SIC's strategy work as vice president of actuarial and chief actuary. An actuary for 30 years, Zicarelli was with Scottsdale Insurance Co. since 1991. His credentials include a doctorate from the University of Minnesota, Bachelor of Arts from St. Olaf College, the Executive Program at Stanford Graduate School of Business, a fellowship in the Casualty Actuarial Society, and he is a Chartered Financial Analyst.