Trinidad and Tobago UWI students win new actuarial scholarships

Dana Reyes and Tyrese Clement have been awarded Fullerton-Long Caribbean scholarships by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) Foundation.

Both are third-year students of the actuarial sciences programme at the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Faculty of Science and Technology, at the UWI St Augustine Campus.

The pair were selected from a list of UWI’s most gifted and highest performing actuarial students. They each won scholarships worth US$2,150.

The Fullerton-Long Caribbean Scholarship was set up by UK-based senior actuaries of Jamaican heritage, Andrew Long and Norbert Fullerton. Both are ambassadors of the IFoA Foundation and UWI alumni,

The IFoA Foundation is the dedicated charitable arm of the IFoA. The foundation works with the global actuarial community to meet its philanthropic objectives for positive societal impact.

Earlier this academic year, the foundation took the opportunity to launch a fund supporting the most gifted and highest-performing young actuaries studying at UWI.

IFoA's chair of trustees Kartina Tahir Thomson said, "The IFoA Foundation is delighted to work alongside Norbert and Andrew on the IFoA Foundation Fullerton-Long Scholarship Award. The scholarship award aims to support Caribbean students in their academic career. Not only would the students benefit financially, they would also benefit from the opportunity the award brings.

"Thanks to the scholarship award, we will have an even more diverse workforce and membership in the actuarial profession. The addition of other supporters’ contributions to the fund going forward will mean that we are able to offer this highly coveted scholarship to even more promising students from the region."

In 2021 the Fullerton-Long Scholarship was initiated for the UWI Mona actuarial programme, offering two awards of USD$2,150 each. This year it has partnered with the IFoA Foundation and secured extra funding to expand the programme to St Augustine.

Stokeley Smart, senior lecturer and co-ordinator of the BSc in actuarial science, said, "“The IFoA Foundation Fullerton-Long Caribbean Scholarship and, in particular, Mr Fullerton and Mr Long, represent the very core of the UWI’s values. These sons of the region and UWI alumni are exemplary global leaders in their field and are eager to give back to UWI and contribute to the development of the region.”

Those eligible for the new IFoA Foundation Fullerton-Long Caribbean Scholarship must be:

Caribbean Community (Caricom) citizens

Students registered at UWI full time for a BSc degree with a major in mathematics or actuarial science

At Level II or III of their studies

Strong academic performance, with a minimum average GPA 3.3 in their previous year’s UWI exams

Strong leadership and teamwork skills

Demonstrable involvement in their local community and an outstanding character

Students committed to joining an actuarial professional body.