David Christianson Honored with Prestigious Actuaries’ Award
Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Executive Receives 2009 Jacobson-Rugland Award.

10/01/09

OAK BROOK, IL – David J. Christianson, Director of Inforce Product Management and Contract Forms and Compliance for Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, received the 2009 Jacobson-Rugland Award from the Actuaries Section of the National Fraternal Congress of America (NFCA).  The award was presented at the 123rd NFCA Annual Meeting, September 17-19, in San Antonio, Texas.

In his 34 years with Lutheran Brotherhood and then Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, David has served in a variety of capacities, leading product development, service operations, and performance management and serving as Assistant to the President.

“It was an honor to be asked to present the Jacobson Rugland Award to Dave on behalf of the Actuaries Section,” said Larry Schreiber, Chief Actuary for Modern Woodmen of America.

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.

Christianson has been very active in serving on and leading actuarial efforts related to AIDS, Risk Classification and Genetic Testing.  This includes chairing the Society of Actuaries’ Task Force on the Financial Implications of AIDS, and many American Academy of Actuaries committees and task forces that developed risk classification Standards of Practice and issue briefs related to risk classification and genetic testing.  He has spoken on Genetic Testing to the American Bar Association, the American Academy of Science, several university symposia, and at actuarial forums.  Most recently, he was on a genetic testing task force at the University of Minnesota.  And he has published several papers on these subjects.

Christianson is a past president of the Fraternal Actuarial Section and served for several years on the board of the Minnesota Fraternal Congress.  Christianson also has spoken on a variety of product and actuarial topics at fraternal and local and national actuarial meetings.

About Thrivent Financial for Lutherans
Thrivent Financial for Lutherans is a not-for-profit, Fortune 500 financial services membership organization helping approximately 2.6 million members achieve financial security and give back to their communities.  Thrivent Financial and its affiliates offer a broad range of financial products and services including life insurance, annuities, mutual funds, disability income insurance, bank products and more.  As a not-for-profit organization, Thrivent Financial creates and supports national outreach programs and activities that help congregations, schools, charitable organizations and individuals in need.  For more information, visit www.thrivent.com.

About the NFCA
The 123-year-old NFCA unites 69 not-for-profit fraternal benefit societies operating in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Canada.  The association represents 9.3 million fraternalists in 37,000 local chapters, making it one of America’s largest member-volunteer 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 $353 billion of life insurance-in-force and, in 2008 alone, contributed almost $424 million to charitable and fraternal programs, and volunteered nearly 94 million hours for community-service projects.  These statistics demonstrate the commitment that fraternals make to those in need and exemplify the true meaning of the NFCA signature phrase:  Joining Hands to Touch Lives.