# List of actuaries

An actuary is a business professional who deals with a financial situation of risk and uncertainty. This is a list of notable actuaries and others who have influenced the profession.

## Born in the 17th century

* John Graunt (1620–1674), English, constructed one of the first life tables
* William Petty (1623–1687), English, much early writing on life tables
* Johan de Witt (1625–1672), Dutch, early pioneering work on life annuities
* Edmond Halley (1656–1742), English, constructed one of the first life tables

## Born in the 18th century

* James Dodson (1705–1751), English, developed statistical mortality tables
* Alexander Webster (1708–1784), Scottish, developed a scheme for providing pensions to widows of church ministers
* Richard Price (1723–1791), Welsh, introduced correct methods for values of contingent reversions
* Edward Rowe Mores (1731–1778), English, founder of The Society for Equitable Assurances on Lives and Survivorships and the first person to use the professional title "actuary"
* William Morgan (1750–1833), Welsh
* George Barrett (1752–1821), English
* Nathaniel Bowditch (1773–1838), probably the second American insurance actuary; Essex Fire and Marine
* Joshua Milne (1776–1851), English
* Benjamin Gompertz (1779–1865), English, developed the Gompertz-Makeham law of mortality and the Gompertz function
* John Finlaison (1783–1860), Scottish, first president of the Institute of Actuaries
* Griffith Davies (1788–1855), Welsh
* Thomas Galloway (1796–1851), Scottish

## Born in the 19th century

* Elizur Wright (1804–1885), American, campaigned for valuation laws requiring life insurance companies to hold reserves to guarantee payment of benefits
* Wesley S. B. Woolhouse (1809–1893), English, co-founder of the Institute of Actuaries
* James Joseph Sylvester (1814–1897), English
* Ole Jacob Broch (1818–1889), Norwegian, founded Christiania almindelige gjensidige Forsørgelsesanstalt, Scandinavia's first life insurance company
* Ernst Engel (1821–1896), German, founded the first mortgage insurance company at Dresden
* Thomas Bond Sprague (1830–1920), British
* Esprit Jouffret (1837–1904), French
* Thorvald N. Thiele (1838–1910), Danish
* Emory McClintock (1840–1916), American
* Anders Lindstedt (1854–1939), Swedish
* Thomas Bassett Macaulay (1860–1942), Canadian
* Thomas Jaffrey (1861–1953), Scottish
* Miles Menander Dawson (1863–1942), American
* Gabriel Gabrielsen Holtsmark (1867–1954), Norwegian
* George James Lidstone (1870–1952), British
* Joseph Burn (1871–1950), English
* Johan Frederik Steffensen (1873–1961), Danish
* Alexander Jobson (1875–1933), Australian
* Maurice Princet (1875–1973), French
* Henry Louis Rietz (1875–1943), American
* I. M. Rubinow (1875–1936), Russian
* Alfred M. Best (1876–1958), American, founder of the A. M. Best company
* Filip Lundberg (1876–1965), Swedish, founder of mathematical risk theory and managing director of several insurance companies
* William Palin Elderton (1877–1962), English
* Alfred J. Lotka (1880–1949), American
* Sverre Krogh (1883–1957), Norwegian
* Harald Cramér (1893–1985), Swedish, developed numerous statistical theories and methods
* Ivo Lah (1896–1979), Slovene
* Dorothy Spiers (1897–1977), first woman to qualify as an actuary in the United Kingdom
* Henrik Palmstrøm (1900–1998), Norwegian

## Born in the 20th century

* Oswald Jacoby (1902–1984), American, youngest person to pass four examinations of the Society of Actuaries
* Pedro Teotónio Pereira (1902–1972), Portuguese
* Wendell Milliman (1905–1976), American, co-founder of Milliman & Robertson
* Andreas Tømmerbakke (1905–1994), Norwegian
* Bruno de Finetti (1906–1985), Italian
* Frank Redington (1906–1984), English, developed a theory concerning the immunisation of fixed-income portfolios
* Bernard Benjamin (1910–2002), English
* Cecil J. Nesbitt (1912–2001), Canadian
* Stuart A. Robertson (1918–2005), American, co-founder of Milliman & Robertson
* James C. Hickman (1927–2006), American
* Harvey Milk (1930-1978), American
* Hugh Hedley Scurfield (1935–2020), English
* Phelim Boyle (1941–), Northern Irish
* Jeremy Gold, (1942–2018), American
* Paul McCrossan (1942–), Canadian
* Ed Savitz (1942–1993), American
* Ward Whitt (1942–), American
* Howard Winklevoss (1943–), American
* Robert Astley (1944–), Canadian
* Bryn Davies (1944–), British
* Christopher Daykin (1948–), English
* Steven Haberman (1951–), English
* James Robert Crosby (1956–), English
* Terri Vaughan (1956–), American
* Tan Suee Chieh (1959–), Singaporean
* David X. Li (~1960s), Chinese, advanced the use of Gaussian copula models to price collateralized debt obligations
* Michael Shackleford (1965–), English
* Roelof Botha (1973–), South African