MURFREESBORO, TN - Middle Tennessee State University’s actuarial science program is making headlines again, thanks to a nearly $18,000 grant from the Casualty Actuarial Society. The award will support Lu Xiong, associate professor and associate director of the program, in groundbreaking research aimed at the insurance industry. Xiong and co-principal investigator David Koegel, a senior actuary based in New York, received the $17,980 grant earlier this year. Although the agreement allows up to five years, Xiong expects the work to wrap up in just two.

Actuarial science is all about using math, statistics, and computer science to measure risk—especially for insurance and financial investments. MTSU’s program is one of only 12 worldwide recognized at the highest levels by both the Casualty Actuarial Society and the Society of Actuaries. In fact, it’s the only program in Tennessee named the Center of Actuarial Excellence.

The grant will fund research to develop a secure data collaboration platform for the actuarial and insurance industry.

“In the insurance field, companies often have valuable data that could improve risk prediction and pricing models, but privacy concerns and regulations make it difficult to share raw data,” Xiong explained. The project aims to let organizations build predictive models together—without ever exchanging their original data. Each company runs its analysis locally and sends only processed results (model updates) to a central server, which then combines them with a more accurate overall model.

The system uses advanced privacy-preserving technologies, like federated learning and encryption, so sensitive information never leaves its original location. “It’s a proof-of-concept for how secure, collaborative modeling can improve accuracy while meeting strict privacy and compliance requirements in actuarial science,” Xiong said.

Only nine proposals were awarded globally, highlighting the program’s continued excellence. “It places MTSU alongside top global programs such as the University of Waterloo, Michigan State University and University of Liverpool,” Xiong noted. The process was competitive, with Xiong spending much of the winter break drafting and revising the proposal before it was selected for funding in March 2025.

To recruit students, the team promotes the program through math classes, clubs, guest speakers, and outreach to local high schools—including math competitions and international recruitment. Strong faculty and industry connections ensure students Get both academic and real-world insight.

Recently, Xiong presented this research at a major conference in New Orleans, sharing the stage with hundreds of math educators. The topic? Secure actuarial data collaboration using federated learning, zero knowledge proofs, and encryption techniques.