Laura Taylor - Ph.D. 2008
Elon University

 

Russ Stocker - Ph.D. 2004
Mississippi State University

Jamie (Winterton) McGee
2002 M.S. in Statistics
University of South Carolina

Actuarial Assistant - Valuation
Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company

Advisor: Dr. Don Edwards
Thesis Title: Generalized Additive Models for Harmonic Regression Analysis

Previous Degree: 2000 B.S. in Mathematics and Statistics - University of South Carolina

The USC Statistics Graduate Program is an excellent program that helped to prepare me for a career in the business world. I entered the graduate program without a planned career path, and looked to my advisors and professors for guidance. My fellowship responsibilities as a graduate student were varied - IT support, teaching undergraduate students, and grant research - and they demonstrated some of the possibilities of the statistics field. However, it was through the department's Colloquium talks that I was introduced to a career in actuarial science. I passed my first Society of Actuaries exam at the end of my first year as a graduate student, and was hired at the first company where I interviewed.

The topics covered in my graduate courses have since been reflected on several of the actuarial exams, and have given me an advantage over other prospective actuaries. The program's emphasis on computer programming has made my adjustment to the business world easy, and I was able to make a strong impression when I first began my new career. The communication skills learned in graduate school through consulting classes and teaching have also helped prepare me for the meetings and presentations of a business career.

Not only did the graduate program supply me with knowledge and skills, I also gained the friendship of a diverse group of students and faculty. Inside the walls of LeConte, we spent many hours studying, writing our theses, tutoring students, arguing with SAS and MINITAB, and ordering lots of delivery food - especially Papa John's, Oriental Express, and Beezers. Outside of the walls of LeConte, we played intramural softball, had cook-outs, celebrated the end of exams, went on field trips, walked to Five Points for school-day lunches, and even went to each other's weddings!