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.
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
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
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 Institute of Actuaries
James Joseph Sylvester (1814–1897), English
Ole Jacob Broch (1818–1889), founded Gjensidige Scandinavias first life insurance company
Ernst Engel (1821–1896), founded the first Mortgage Insurance company at Dresden, Germany
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
I. M. Rubinow (1875–1936), Russian
Henry Louis Rietz (1875–1943), American
Alfred M. Best (1876–1958), American, founder of the A. M. Best company
Maurice Princet (1875–1973), French
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), Austrian-Hungarian
Henrik Palmstrøm (1900–1998), Norwegian
Oswald Jacoby (1902–1984), American, the youngest person ever to pass four examinations of the Society of Actuaries
Wendell Milliman (1905–1976), American, co-founder of Milliman & Robertson
Andreas Tømmerbakke (1905–1994), Norwegian
Frank Redington (1906–1984), English, developed an immunisation theory which specifies how a fixed income portfolio can be "immunised" against changing interest rates
Bruno de Finetti (1906–1985), Italian
Bernard Benjamin (1910–2002), English
Cecil J. Nesbitt (1912–2001), Canadian
Stuart A. Robertson (1918–2005), American, co-founder of Milliman & Roebertson
James C. Hickman (1927–2006), American, Dean of School of Business, University of Wisconsin–Madison
Hugh Hedley Scurfield (1935–), English
Phelim Boyle (1941–), Northern Irish
Paul McCrossan (1942–), Canadian
Ward Whitt (1942–), American
Ed Savitz (1942–1993), American
Bryn Davies (1944–), British
Robert Astley (1944–), Canadian
Christopher Daykin,(1948–), English
Steven Haberman (1951–), English
Sir James Robert Crosby (1956–), English
Tan Suee Chieh (1959–), Singaporean
David X. Li (~1960s), Chinese, pioneered the use of Gaussian copula models for the pricing of collateralized debt obligations (CDOs)
Michael Shackleford (1965–), English
Roelof Botha (1973–), South African
Howard Winklevoss (1943–), American
