Alumni Updates
Alumni Overview and Looking Ahead
As we welcome a new year, we take a moment to celebrate the 38 graduates who joined our alumni community in December 2024. These new alumni are now stepping into actuarial careers across insurance, consulting, and financial risk management, carrying forward the excellence of our program. Their journeys are just beginning, and we look forward to seeing their contributions to the profession in the years to come.
Our alumni network continues to grow, and with it, new opportunities for engagement. We are excited to announce future events aimed at strengthening connections between alumni, faculty, and current students. Whether through networking/social gatherings, professional panels, or mentorship initiatives, these events will offer valuable opportunities to stay involved and support the next generation of actuaries.
The Claire Li and Conan Gu Fellowship Fund
In the spirit of giving back, we are proud to highlight a significant milestone for our program: alumna Claire Li ('15SPS) and her husband, Conan Gu, have established the first endowed fellowship fund for the Actuarial Science program at Columbia SPS. This generous gift marks the 10th anniversary of Claire’s graduation from Columbia and reflects her deep appreciation for the program that helped shape her professional career.
In a recent article on the Columbia SPS News, "Columbia SPS Alum Establishes Endowed Fellowship Fund for the Actuarial Science Program," Claire returned to Lewisohn Hall last month to share her motivations for making this impactful contribution. The Claire Li and Conan Gu Fellowship Fund will provide financial support to outstanding graduate students, helping to ease financial barriers and open doors to future opportunities. Claire, who immigrated to the U.S. from Beijing at age 16 and later earned her bachelor's degree in mathematics and economics from UCLA, credits the Actuarial Science program with her transition from student to professional. In particular, she acknowledges the invaluable mentorship of program faculty, including former Program Director Lina Xu, who encouraged her to take full advantage of the resources at Columbia SPS.
Claire Li (SPS’15) and Conan Gu
Following her graduation, Claire embarked on a successful career in the actuarial field, working at AIG and Prudential Financial before transitioning to a new role in insurance regulation at the New York State Department of Financial Services. Her career evolution, coupled with life-changing personal milestones—including the recent birth of her daughter, Cyrilla—inspired Claire and Conan to establish this fellowship as a way to pay forward the generosity they received during their own academic journeys.
“We were both international students, and it was a great opportunity to start our professional journey in the States,” Claire shared in the article. “We want to repay the help we received.”
Actuarial Science Program Director Regina Dolgoarshinnykh expressed deep gratitude for the fellowship, emphasizing its role in supporting the next generation of actuaries. “We are so thankful for Claire’s endowment, which will go towards supporting our brightest students in the pursuit of their dreams, empowering them to achieve their academic and professional goals,” she said. “This remarkable contribution is a testament to Claire’s commitment to education and belief in the potential of our program”.
Claire foresees exciting transformations in the actuarial industry, from the rise of AI to the expanding role of programming languages like Python. She hopes the Claire Li and Conan Gu Fellowship Fund will help make the program more accessible to a diverse pool of students—particularly international students—allowing them to focus on their education without financial strain and confidently pursue careers in actuarial science.
Reflecting on her journey, Claire shared, “I feel like I’m here now because I attended this program and was able to secure a job afterwards. I hope the program continues supporting students to feel confident in the hiring process, land jobs, and eventually become professionals themselves.”
