OAK BROOK, IL – Robert W. Guth, Appointed Actuary at Mennonite Mutual Aid Association (MMA) in Goshen, Indiana, received the 2006 Jacobson-Rugland Award from the Actuaries Section of the National Fraternal Congress of America (NFCA).  The award was presented at the Celebration of Fraternalism Luncheon held during the 120th NFCA Annual Meeting, September 7-9, in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Guth’s actuarial experience has included product development for major medical health, for life and for fixed annuities, statutory and tax reserve calculations, budgeting, cash flow testing and appointed actuary, programming of reserve and financial projection software, staff education, modeling investments and hedging and derivative strategies.  Guth has been a participant in the life-working group that drafted revisions to the 1995 practice notes about appointed actuary practice.  As an actuary, Guth has worked with other organizations’ actuaries to share ideas and give and gain insight that can be beneficial to the work he does for MMA.

“Bob is highly respected both inside and outside the actuarial department for his actuarial expertise and his wide, in-depth knowledge,” said Sid Richard, MMA’s chief actuary.  “His willingness to share that knowledge led to his being recognized for this honor.”

Prior to joining MMA, Guth taught biology at Goshen College and was in private business.  He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries.  He is enrolled to practice before the IRS.  He has a B.A. from Goshen College with majors in math and biology and a Ph.D. from Northwestern University in biological sciences.  Guth is married with two teenage sons.  His wife, Christine, is a volunteer with ADNet (Anabaptist Disabilities Network), and is a candidate for a Masters in Divinity at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary.

Established by Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, in 1993, and presented annually by the NFCA’s Actuarial Section, the award honors an outstanding fraternal actuary for contributions to the actuarial profession and support of the fraternal benefit system.  The award was named in honor of the late Reuben Jacobson (of the former Lutheran Brotherhood) and Walter Rugland (of the former Aid Association for Lutherans).

To receive the Jacobson-Rugland Award, an actuary must be or have been a member of a professional actuarial association, an employee or consultant to a fraternal benefit society, or a notable contributor to the actuarial and fraternal industries. Award winners are selected by a panel of officers from the NFCA’s Actuarial Section. Actuarial science is the mathematical foundation on which the insurance profession rests.

About Mennonite Mutual Aid Association
Mennonite Mutual Aid Association (MMA) is a fraternal benefit society headquartered in Goshen, Indiana.   MMA helps people manage resources in ways that honor God through its professional expertise in insurance and financial services.  Rooted in the Anabaptist faith tradition, MMA offers practical stewardship, education and tools to individuals, congregations, and organizations.  For more information, visit www.mma-online.org.

About the NFCA
The 120-year-old NFCA unites 75 not-for-profit fraternal benefit societies operating in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Canada. The association represents 10 million people in 36,000 local chapters, making it one of America’s largest member networks. Fraternal benefit societies provide their members with leadership, social, educational, spiritual, patriotic, scholarship, financial and volunteer-service opportunities.  Combined, the NFCA’s member-societies maintain more than $324 billion of life insurance-in-force and, in 2005 alone, contributed almost $400 million to charitable and fraternal programs.  In addition, fraternalists volunteered 93 million hours toward community-service projects during that same period.