ACTUARY. The name of actuarius, sc. scriba, in ancient Rome, was given to the clerks who recorded the Acta Publica of the senate, and also to the officers who kept the military accounts and enforced the due fulfilment of contracts for military supplies. In its English form the word has undergone a gradual limitation of meaning. At first it seems to have denoted any clerk or regis trar; then more particularly the secretary and adviser of any joint stock company, but especially of an insurance company; and it is now applied specifically to one who makes those calculations as to the probabilities of human life upon which the issuance of life insurance and annuity contracts depend. In the life insurance companies of the U.S., Canada, and Great Britain, the actuarial departments are large and the position of the actuary important. In the U.S. there are two scientific organizations for the promotion of actuarial science embracing members from Canada also.
One is the Actuarial Society of America, founded in 1889, with headquarters in New York and a membership in 1939 of 382 Fellows and 361 Associates. The other is the American Institute of Actuaries, founded in 1909, with headquarters in Chicago and a membership in 1939 of 217 Fellows and 295 Associates. There is considerable overlapping of membership and the two bodies hold joint meetings periodically.
Admission to membership is by examination, and beginning in 1938 the two organizations adopted the practice of having identical ex aminations, set by a joint committee. The mathematical parts of the examinations include advanced algebra with special emphasis upon the theory of probability, the theory of compound interest, finite differences, the differential and integral calculus, and statistics. The other parts of the examinations include the application of mathematics to life contingencies, the compilation of tables of mortality, disability, sickness, accident, etc., the underwriting of risks, life insurance account ing, the theory of banking and finance, the investment of life insur ance funds, and the law as it relates to life insurance contracts.
In Great Britain there are two actuarial organizations—one, the Institute of Actuaries founded in 1848, with headquarters at Staple Inn Hall, London, and the other, the Faculty of Actuaries, founded in 1856, with headquarters in Edinburgh. Both are incorporated by royal charters and admission to each is by examination. The number of Fellows of the British Institute of Actuaries in 1939 was 535 ; in the Faculty of Actuaries, 263.
In 1895 the first International Congress of Actuaries was held in Brussels. Since then ten congresses have been held at approximately three-year intervals except for the period 1913 to 1926 inclusive. The last congress was held in Paris from June 17 to 24, with a registration of more than 1,200 persons representing forty countries.