Stellar Student: David Idoux

David Idoux chose predicting profit gains over predicting the weather.

David Idoux, a mathematics major from Waterloo, is working on his second bachelor's degree. (Photo courtesy of David Idoux)

After graduating from the University of Illinois with degree in meteorology, Idoux decided that a pursuing a career as a meteorologist wasn’t the path for him. Idoux said those positions were tied to working on television which didn’t interest him.  After speaking with his father, Patrick, owner of Patrick Insurance Group, and researching online, Idoux became interested in pursuing a career as an actuary.

So Idoux enrolled at SIUE in the fall of 2013 and chose to specialize in actuarial science. The senior now has plans to work as an actuary for insurance companies where he will crunch numbers to determine insurance premium rate pricing.

“I was just really drawn toward the progression in the field,” said Idoux, who was named a Stellar Student by the College of Arts and Sciences. “I like the linear progression of the profession as a whole.”

Idoux, 25, is scheduled to graduate with his second undergraduate degree, this time in mathematics.

This summer, Idoux will be working as an intern for the Horace Mann Educators Corporation, a company that provides insurance for educators. Idoux will be working for SIUE alum Rick Moore who works as an actuary in the research and reserving department.

Idoux said that he became interested in working as an actuary after doing a class project at Illinois where he studied different weather events and how they affected the pricing of agricultural commodities in different markets.

“Through (the project) I was first exposed to actuaries because actuaries deal sometimes with investments in commodities markets,” Idoux said. “And I was just really just interested in using math and science essentially to predict market movement. Learning to forecast, using forecasting techniques is something I learned at U of I and it’s something I still use now with certain types of problems.”

He later decided to enroll at SIUE because the school has been accredited as a center for actuarial development. The SIUE senior carries a 3.7 GPA while working two jobs and making a 40-minute commute three or four times a week from his hometown, Waterloo, Ill.

Idoux said he has known that math came naturally to him since he was a high school student and always enjoyed taking courses that were related to mathematics. Idoux said he enjoys solving math problems and building computers from used parts in his spare time.

“I’ve just always really understood math when I was a kid,” Idoux said. “I didn’t really know what I wanted to do when I started college so I just decided to do something I’ve always been good at.”

Idoux currently works as an IT specialist for his father’s company, building workstations and setting up work systems.

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