Jennifer Lang has been named 2020 Actuary of the Year by the Actuaries Institute for her role in leading the institute’s COVID-19 response, which has been recognised for a “major contribution to the profession and the communities in which actuaries work.”
Lang led the Actuaries Institute’s COVID-19 working group, which brought together more than 80 actuaries, as volunteers, to assess the potential impacts of the pandemic on the profession, public policy, business, and the community.
Actuaries Institute president Hoa Bui said that the Actuary of the Year is a “prestigious award presented to a member of the Actuaries Institute who has made a notable contribution to the community and has brought credit to the profession.”
“Jennifer is a most worthy recipient of the Actuary of the Year award, we all congratulate Jennifer and thank her for her valuable contribution to the profession,” said Bui. “Jennifer’s ability to bring rigor with her actuarial skill set to looking at issues around COVID-19 particularly stood out. She is able to guide the working group, to bring data to the table to solve problems that hamper communities, business and policymakers in very different ways. That thinking helps lead change.”
“The work of the COVID-19 group, under Jennifer’s leadership, is making a significant contribution,” said Elayne Grace, chief executive of the Actuaries Institute. “The group has provided strong guidance to the profession in unprecedented times, across a very broad range of practice areas. It has resulted in 17 pandemic briefings and more than 70 articles.”
“This award, which I am delighted to accept, also reflects the work we have done in the COVID-19 group,” said Lang. “As a profession, actuaries bring to bear skills in scenario testing, modelling out to the future, and statistical and financial insights. We have skills in long-term projection, and we explain risks and uncertainties to boards and senior managers. As a group, we spent a lot of time this year helping members and the community make sense of the pandemic and the economic crisis that has followed. We bring data-driven thinking; we follow evidence to help determine a course of action.”
