Words of Wisdom for New Members
by Michael Fusco

Editor’s Note: Published here are exerts from the "Address to New Members" given by Michael Fusco at the 1996 CAS Annual Meeting in November. The complete text of the address will be published in the Proceedings of the Casualty Actuarial Society, LXXXIII (1996).

The CAS is run by volunteers and I urge you to become one of them. There was a time when the CAS was much smaller in size; when it had only one vice-president; when it conducted fewer exams (and ones that were not partitioned); and when there was no Course on Professionalism. These and other changes occurred to enhance the organization, and the changes were made by the volunteers. My advice is: Don't watch the next series of changes happen--make them happen.

Your volunteer effort could come in the form of debt because we all owe the CAS, or it could come in the form of desire-- The desire to keep on improving things for the next generation of actuaries. If the contributions comes from the latter source, you will feel a lot better for it.

Your integrity cannot by bought. You should be paid to sign a loss reserve opinion, but not coerced to sign someone else's. I urge you to read the Code of Professional Conduct. It defines the boundaries of appropriate professional behavior. Study those boundaries, but not for the purpose of determining just how close you can get to them.