The Other FCAS is an honorary posthumous award, granting the recipient the title of Fellow of the Corpse Actuarial Society.

To become a Fellow of the Corpse Actuarial Society, an individual must meet the following criteria:

• The individual must be deceased.
• The individual must have been a member of the Casualty Actuarial Society at the time of their death.
• The individual must have passed all qualifying exams required to become a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society with the exception of their final qualifying exam (in the case of most US-based actuaries, CAS Exam 9).
• The individual’s next of kin (or, I dunno, particularly friendly coworkers?) must e-mail info@theotherfcas.com, ask nicely, and provide corroborating information.

Please refer to our Nominate Someone page.

There are 39,587 actuaries in America.

There are 10,840 members of the Casualty Actuarial Society.

There are 3,340 associates of the CAS.

There are 6,676 fellows.

And there are at least a few actuaries who die prior to passing Exam 9 (Risk Management For Actuaries), but after completing all other requirements to earn their FCAS (also known as “The Real FCAS”).

It is in honor of these brave individuals, who spend an average of 6 - 10 years, and 3,000 - 3,600 hours of study, with their nerdy little heads buried in books rife with equations that look like ancient Latin spells for summoning The Demon of Ratemaking, only to have the misfortune of dying prior to passing Exam 9 - that The Other FCAS was created.

Yes! The Casualty Actuarial Society can do anything they damned well please, permitted the thing they wish to do does not violate their own internal bylaws, their organizational constitution, or the laws and regulations established by either the Internal Revenue Service and/or the state of Virginia governing 501(c)(6) corporations.

The CAS bylaws do not prohibit granting honorary posthumous awards.

The CAS constitution does not prohibit granting honorary posthumous awards.

The laws and regulations governing 501(c)(6) corporations are really long and kind of dry and honestly we did not read them all, but they appear to be more concerned with the intricacies of the National Muffler Dealers Association v. United States, 440 U.S. 472 (1979) ruling rather than the granting of honorary posthumous awards. So no, they do not prohibit that, either.

The CAS chooses not to award an honorary posthumous FCAS to deserving individuals.

Terry Robinson, 2025 recipient of The Other FCAS, famously despised the practice of using weak excuses to evade one’s obligations.

He even had a phrase he used, with an arched eyebrow and tone of incredulity, whenever he thought someone was doing it: “We choose.”

Hypothetical Coworker: “Aw, sorry I didn’t bring anything to the office potluck; I figured you loved cooking so much that you’d handle it!”

Terry, Holding a Pot of Mac ‘n Cheese Weighing As Much As A Toddler: “We choose.”

Hypothetical Friend: “Oh man, I know I said I’d help you move that couch, but I’m sooooo tired... I know I wouldn’t be of much use!”

Terry, Singlehandedly Moving Said Couch On the Handlebars of His Bicycle: “We choose.”

The CAS chooses not to award an honorary posthumous FCAS. They choose.

Surprisingly, no.

Again, no! It may be funny. But many things are both funny and sincere. That particular mélange of qualities is a thing humans need, lest we go insane. In 2022, when a group of Ukrainian border guards stationed on Snake Island were ordered to surrender by a Russian missile cruiser and responded with “Russian warship, go fuck yourself!”, that was a matter of life and death, and also pretty hilarious.

You get the idea.

The FCAS (aka “The Real FCAS”, aka “The FCAS For Actuaries Who Are Still Alive”) - is an actual credential. It confers - to paraphrase that website of non-profit legal code that we spent way too much time reading - certain “rights, privileges, immunities, powers, franchise, authority, property, and obligations”. I mean, probably not property. Unless the CAS sends you an Edible Arrangement when you get your FCAS? Mmmmn, accreditation pineapple.

The point being: it's an actual, meaningful professional designation.

An honorary award confers no actual rights, privileges, etc. It's issued to HONOR the recipient, which is why that word is 62.5% of the word “honorary”. Look, we can math, too!

A posthumous award is even more limited in scope and intent. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the deceased, with the exception of zombies, are not really proactive self-starters. Posthumous awards exist solely to honor the recipient - to reassure their loved ones that they (and their accomplishments) mattered, and are remembered.

An honorary posthumous FCAS would not permit the honoree to sign actuarial opinions from That Great Pearson VUE Testing Center In The Sky. No one would expect them to weigh in on the finer points of loss reserving via Ouija board.

An honorary posthumous FCAS would provide a small measure of recognition to hard-working, gone-too-soon actuarial professionals, as well as a modicum of comfort to their families.

The CAS has chosen not to grant this award.

And thus, The Other FCAS was born.

I'd assume they probably do by now, yeah.

Please refer to our Legal Ass-Covering page.

Then their Other FCAS will stand for "Fellow of the Cremated Actuarial Society". We're not here to judge your funerary traditions.

Terry's widow. It's just Terry's widow. None of the following individuals in Terry's life were involved in the creation or promotion of The Other FCAS:

• Employers, former or present. Although I guess they're all former now? :-(
• Colleagues
• Managers
• Professional associates
• Mentors
• Mentees
• Mentos (The Freshmaker)
• Friends
• Family
• Acquaintances
• Enemies

I'm not an actuary. When I see a fraction that's made out of other fractions, I freak out a little. But I have a few other things:

• A boundless love for Terry
• An unquenchable thirst for justice
• The ability to combine those into a website