Thomas S. Terry, FSA, FCA, MAAA, EA
If a pioneer is defined as an individual who discovers new areas of thought, research and development, then our featured pioneer truly fits the description. Let's go behind the scenes with Tom Terry.
What historical figure do you most identify with and why?
The person that comes to mind is George Eastman. I've always been fascinated by him. Here's a guy who created an industry—consumer photography—out of a vision. He was fascinated by photography, but early on, it was all about guys with chemicals and glass plates working in dark laboratories. Eastman transformed popularized photography. By the time he was done, you could point your camera, push a button, snap out the canister, mail it off and a week or two later you'd get these beautiful photos back. I really admire how he took this inaccessible science and introduced it to the public. On top of that, he was a great man in a lot of other ways. He was dedicated to his community and the arts. His name is on a lot of the art centers in and around Rochester, New York. One of the finer music schools carries his name, the Eastman School of Music. The guy was remarkable.
How would you explain your profession to a child?
I've been working on this one for years and I've tried several approaches. I've come at it from the standpoint of flipping coins—showing how the role of chance or risk shows up in everyday life. I've also compared it to building models. Starting with a physical model that is a representation of a real thing—like a model car. I've done the same thing with a financial concept—building a small model with a few numbers and arithmetic and showing how it can be a representation of a larger financial system.
When one of my sons was in junior high, he had a science experiment that involved taking temperature readings as some chemical reaction was occurring. He recorded these readings and he was writing up a poster board that included all of his data points. Well, he had missed a few readings and he had some gaps in the data. So, he started to fill in numbers. I just happened to be watching what he was doing and so I stopped him. We had a great conversation that I still remember vividly several years later. We talked about the difference between scientific research, where the integrity of the data is absolute versus building a model or interpolating based on an underlying hypothesis or underlying principles. He was doing the latter, but the project was calling for the former. It was interesting that he so instinctively wanted to fill in the missing pieces. He already had an underlying understanding of a relationship or an expected result based on the other data points.
This led to a conversation about actuaries. We do the latter. We will take a principle or a trend and we'll attempt, from imperfect data perhaps to extrapolate it into the real world, so that individuals and businesses can meaningfully make decisions on the basis of that scant data. It was a very memorable exchange, and he got a strong sense of what actuaries do as a result.
What did you have to learn the hard way and why?
What immediately comes to mind is that computers don't always tell the truth. I can remember doing my first actuarial evaluation of a pension plan back in 1975 and I labored over coding up the valuation system that we were using at the time. I worked on the data. I worked on the plan provisions. And I worked on the actuarial assumptions. I carefully set and ran the program. I dutifully looked at the results, summarized them, and interpreted them. I worked on these things for a couple weeks. I showed them to my boss and he stared at them for a few seconds, grimaced, shook his head and said, "These aren't right."
I was stunned! How could somebody in ten seconds obliterate two weeks worth of work? It was a huge lesson to me about garbage in, garbage out, about developing an instinct, about realizing that you can't believe everything that comes off of a computer just because it's already printed out on a nice piece of paper. It was a tough lesson that I had to learn over and over again. And in fact, I prided myself after some years of being able to do exactly the same thing my boss did and I still do that today.
What talent would you most like to have?
I wish I had a better memory. I say that not just because I'm getting older—I've always wanted a better memory! I was always terrible at memorizing formulas. When I was in school or taking actuarial exams, I'd memorize one basic formula and then remember how to derive all the rest. I think in some respects it slowed me down; in other respects I appreciated that ability to derive things from basic principles.
If you could choose another profession, what would that be?
Well maybe an archeologist. I have developed an appreciation for what we can learn from understanding history. I have a lot of respect for civilizations that have come before us, for people that have come before us, and the wisdom that they had. When I was younger I used to think our generation had all the knowledge. Everyone that came before was ignorant, assuming that scientific advancement was the indicator of wisdom. How wrong that was. Our forefathers were quite brilliant in many ways. I think there's a lot to be learned by going back and studying history and even ancient civilization.
What movie character would you like to portray and why?
Indiana Jones. How do you not like a guy like Indiana Jones? This guy is sharp. He's resourceful. He thinks fast. He's unselfish. He's a bit of a renegade and at the same time he's dedicated to everyday principles: very generous, very giving, and very integrated into the bigger picture. He's humble and he's very human-like.
Is there a book that changed your perspective on life?
I've got a couple of answers to that. The first book is really a series of books about Freddy the Pig, written by Walter R. Brooks. I started reading Freddy the Pig books back in the fourth or fifth grade. Freddy was kind of a leader among all the farm animals, and they had one adventure after another. It was really what got me started in reading, so that series was pivotal for me.
Interestingly, I've run into very few people who are familiar with Freddy. But I discovered on my first date with my wife Karen that she and I had Freddy the Pig (among other things, obviously) in common!
Beyond Freddy, in sixth grade, I began reading biographies. I stumbled into that section of the library in my school and I became a veracious reader of biographies: scientists, political leaders, founding fathers, people of that sort. I think I've always been inspired by the accomplishments and the principles by which others live. To this day, I get inspiration by reading biographies.
What's the best reward for a job well done?
Well how can you answer that in any other way than the cliché: the best reward for good work is more work. As a consultant, that's absolutely the case. There is a dedication to service that any good consultant has and in my view, there's no better reward for doing a good client project than having the opportunity to do more, which is exactly why we exist as a business.
What is your personal motto?
I'm constantly asking myself, "What's the right thing to do here?" I think I'm a smart guy, and I can see lots of possible solutions to any problem or situation. Sorting through the pathways can be pretty overwhelming. Inevitably, there's the easy way, the expeditious way, the lucrative way, the short term advantage way, the "win at any cost" way, etc. The allure of some of these pathways can be strong and they are always present. But I know that when I'm on my game, I'm really paying attention to the question, "What's the right thing to do here?"