• Doron Levy is elected SIAM Class of 2026 Fellow

    Doron Levy was elected Fellow of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), class of 2026:  https://www.siam.org/publications/siam-news/articles/siam-announces-2026-class-of-fellows.   Dr. Levy is recognized for his amazingly-stellar and sustained distinguished contributions to research and training in mathematical oncology and mathematical biology.  This exceedingly well-deserved award is fantastic for our department and university. Read More
  • Artem Chernikov awarded the Bessel Research Award by the Humboldt Foundation

    This award is given annually to internationally renowned academics from outside of Germany in recognition of their research accomplishments.  This award is named after Bessel and funded by the German ministry of education and research. Congratulations Atrem Chernikov.  https://www.humboldt-foundation.de/en/apply/sponsorship-programmes/friedrich-wilhelm-bessel-research-award  Read More
  • Mapping the Mind

    Junior computer science and mathematics double major Brooke Guo analyzes neural connections to understand the causes of complex brain conditions like schizophrenia.  When Brooke Guo arrived at the University of Maryland as a freshman in 2022, she knew she wanted to help people and work in a health-related field someday. Read More
  • Four Science Terps Awarded 2025 Goldwater Scholarships

    Four undergraduates in the University of Maryland’s College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences (CMNS) have been awarded 2025 scholarships by the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation, which encourages students to pursue advanced study and research careers in the sciences, engineering and mathematics.  Over the last 16 years, UMD’s nominations Read More
  • Announcing the Winners of the Frontiers of Science Awards

    Congratulations to our colleagues who won the 2025 Frontiers of Science Award: - Dan Cristofaro-Gardiner, for his join paper with Humbler and Seyfaddini: “Proof of the simplicity conjecture”, Annals of Mathematics 2024. - Dima Dolgopyat & Adam Kanigowski, for their joint paper with Federico Rodriguez Hertz: “Exponential mixing implies Bernoulli”, Annals of Mathematics Read More
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Description

This course introduces several of the major mathematical ideas involved in calculating life insurance premiums.  Ideas from probability and statistics will be developed from scratch, as needed, through course notes and reference to the Stat 400 text (recommended for this course as well), Introduction to Probability and Statistics by R. Devore will be used.

(If you do not have any background in probability and statistics, there are a number of basic books which contain good basic discussions of random variables and probability at the level of the second Actuarial Exam. A few standard ones are: Ross, S., Introduction to Probability Theory (used for Stat 410); Hoel, Port, and Stone, Introduction to Probability Theory; Larson, R., Intro. to Probability Theory and Statistical Inference; Larsen and Marx (currently used for Stat 400); Hogg, R. and Craig, A., Introduction to Mathematical Stat.; and many others.)

Prerequisites

1 course with a minimum grade of C- from (MATH240, MATH461, MATH341); and 1 course with a minimum grade of C- from (MATH340, MATH241).

Recommended: STAT400 or Stat410.


Level of Rigor

Standard


Sample Textbooks

Actuarial Mathematics for Life Contingent Risks, by Dickson

Theory of Interest and Life Contingencies, etc., by M.M. Parmenter


Applications



If you like this course, you might also consider the following courses



Additional Notes


Students may also be interested in the actuarial club.

Topics

Compound interest and present valuation of future income streams

Probability distributions and expected values derived from life tables

Interpolation of probability distributions from values estimated at one-year multiples

"Law of Large Numbers" describing the regular probabilistic behavior of large populations of independent individuals

Detailed calculation of expected present values arising in Insurance problems






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