Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science Program Honor Outstanding Alumni
09-17-2009
On Friday, September 25, 2009, the departments in the College of Science jointly honored their Outstanding Alumni. This year the Department of Statistics awarded Dr. Marcey L. Hoover (M.S. Statistics 1993, Ph.D. Statistics 1995) with the Statistics Outstanding Alumni Award. The Actuarial Science program, administered jointly by the Department of Statstics and the Department of Mathematics, awarded Kent H. Somers (B.S. Mathematics 1986) with the Actuarial Science Outstanding Alumni Award. The Outstanding Alumni Award honors an alumnus for their contributions and leadership within their profession.
The following events were held:
- Friday, September 25, 2009 from 2:00pm - 3:00pm in HAAS 111 - A presentation by Dr. Hoover on her career highlights followed by a question and answer period.
- Friday, September 25, 2009 from 2:00pm - 3:30pm in BRNG 1254 - A panel discussion between Kent Somers and Actuarial Science undergraduates.
Meet our Outstanding Alumni
Marcey L. Hoover
Dr. Marcey L. Hoover is Manager of the Strategic Planning & Laboratory Leadership Team (LLT) at Sandia National Laboratories. Sandia is operated for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) by Lockheed Martin Corporation.
The Strategic Planning & LLT department is responsible for organizing and executing the corporate level strategic planning activities and laboratory leadership forums, as well as helping to increase the analytical basis through system studies of issues that directly affect laboratory strategy. In this role, Hoover is responsible for coordinating and facilitating the executive management team meetings on strategy and management of the Laboratories, authoring and maintaining the institution's strategic plan, and overseeing the management of the corporate objectives, goals, and milestones. She is also Sandia's deputy campus executive for Purdue University.
In the past, Hoover managed stockpile evaluation programs for bombs, cruise missiles, and non-nuclear components at Sandia. In these roles, her organizations were responsible for statistically sampling weapons from the nation's nuclear stockpile, conducting tests in a laboratory or flight environment, analyzing the data, and investigating any anomalies disclosed by the data. The testing and investigation, in coordination with other assessment and certification efforts, helped to ensure the health and performance of the overall stockpile. Prior to these assignments, Hoover provided technical management and systems engineering support to various nuclear weapon programs, and led efforts to implement formal risk and cost management practices at Sandia.
In addition to assignments at Sandia, Hoover was previously a Certified Quality Engineer and member of the ASQ Statistics Division, serving as a Short Course Chair for two Annual Quality Congresses, the Electronic Commerce Chair, and two terms as the elected Division Treasurer. She has also held elected positions in the American Statistical Association (ASA) and served as a Technometrics book reviewer.
Hoover holds an M.S. (1993) and Ph.D. (1995) in Mathematical Statistics from Purdue University and a B.S. in Mathematics from Michigan State University.
To read more about Marcey L. Hoover read her alumni profile here.
Kent H. Somers
Kent H. Somers is Vice President, Appointed Actuary and Head of the Financial Actuarial Department of the Lincoln Financial Group.
His areas of responsibility include statutory and tax valuation for all U.S. domestic life insurance business, GAAP valuation for domestic life and annuity business, participation in the equity risk management for the Corporation, internal management reporting and product profitability analysis. Somers also serves on the Executive Steering Committee for the Actuarial Development Program of the Company.
Prior to assuming his current role, Somers headed the Life & Annuity Valuation Department within Lincoln Financial Group and was responsible for the statutory, GAAP and tax valuations for all of the domestic life and annuity business, and hedging of equity risks from annuity product guarantees.
Somers has held a number of roles within the company including Valuation Actuary, Director of Asset/Liability Management, and Assistant Appointed Actuary. Some of his areas of involvement included acquisitions, surplus investment portfolio management, fixed-income derivative trading for hedging purposes, and internal risk-based capital measurement and allocation.
Somers joined Lincoln Financial Group as part of the actuarial program directly out of college in 1986 after earning his Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from Purdue University. He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, earned his Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst (CERA) credential and is a CFA Charterholder.
He and his wife, Lisa, have three children, Kyle, Kira and Kenna, and reside in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
To read more about Kent H. Somers, read his alumni profile here.