Research and Development Center

SCOTT FARRIS
Research and Development Center Actuarial Manager

Hometown:
Springfield, IL

Alma Mater:
Illinois State University
(Mathematics)

Nicknames:
None really… I did write for the school newspaper under the pen name "Scoop Newsworthy."

Most vivid college memory:
Watching the infamous 0-0 tie between Illinois and Northwestern . This got Gary Moeller fired as the U of I coach… and later hired at Michigan as a head coach. Oh, and Klein 4 groups… I love symmetry.

Favorite class in college:
Abstract Algebra… and Quantum Mechanics… beware of quantum ducks… quark, quark.

Least favorite class in college:
Humanities, although based on personal experience I think Machiavelli got it about right.

Advice I’d like to give to college students:
Take two and hit to right…

Hobbies:
Watching U of I sports and going to Big Ten swim meets.

Favorite Restaurant in C-U:
The Deluxe... before they tore it down.

Favorite Music:
Primordial Vulcan music or anything that utilizes the Vulcan lyre.

Favorite Movie:
The Matrix of course…

Favorite TV Shows:
The Sopranos… reminds me of Dad.

Favorite Quote:
"Anyone who robs Peter to pay Paul can always count on the support of Paul."
-Unknown

Hero/Role Model:
Sir William Rowan Hamilton… he had the foresight to invent an efficient way to express the mathematics behind computer graphic rotations 200 years before the computer was invented.

Career:
Graduated from ISU in 1977, and then taught for a couple years. Then I went back to ISU to finish graduate school and I was hired by State Farm in 1981. I went to work in the Actuarial Department and eventually managed a unit called Statistical Analysis and Research. I moved to the Systems department in 2003 to work on our Data Warehouse and Cost Optimization models. This summer I was asked to manage the Actuarial function at the research facility and am looking forward to working with our students on their research projects.

I enjoy research very much. A long time ago I co-authored two CAS papers on catastrophe ratemaking. That work was one of the first to include a separate hurricane model in the catastrophe provision. I have been involved in the development of many of the current Fire ratemaking applications and methods. On the Systems side the cost optimization model we built for our new claims systems was one of the first applications of stochastic cost optimization applied to State Farm Systems infrastructure.

What I like most about my work at the Research and Development Center:
I’ve been here a short time but I enjoy the students and staff very much. I look forward to working with bright young people with great ideas and great enthusiasm.

My future vision for the Research and Development Center:
To develop highly qualified interns that will contribute to State Farm and its mission. To recruit the very best of those interns to make State Farm their career choice.

Outside of work, I think I’m really good at:
Paying college tuition bills. I have lots of practice.