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^[1]
• 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
• 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

References