Michael Paradiso, an Illinois State University actuarial science student, has been identified as one of the top actuarial science students in the world by the Actuarial Foundation.

Paradiso, member of the class of 2016 and current president of the Actuarial Club, has been awarded a 2015 Curtis E. Huntington Memorial Scholarship by the foundation. Scholarship recipients are graduating students in actuarial science at any university worldwide, recognized for being among the best students in the world. Approximately 10 or 12 students are recognized each year.

“The College of Arts and Sciences congratulates Michael on his outstanding accomplishment,” said Dean Gregory Simpson. “We are also very proud of the actuarial program at ISU. Dr. (Krzysztof) Ostaszewski has done a remarkable job of building and maintaining an extraordinarily successful program.”

Paradiso is the seventh ISU student to win one of the scholarships. An eighth student, Julius Appah, who received his master’s degree from Illinois State, also won the scholarship as an undergraduate at another university.

Originally established as the John Culver Wooddy Scholarships, the Actuarial Foundation renamed the scholarships in 2014 to recognize the positive impact Huntington had on his students and on the actuarial profession. The actuarial program at Illinois State University is recognized by the Society of Actuaries as one of 26 Centers of Actuarial Excellence worldwide.