Robert Brown

Professor Emeritus
Robert Brown

Contact Information:
Robert Brown

Research interests

Rob’s research focus is the design of financial security programs in times of rapidly shifting demographics. In his 39 years at Waterloo, Rob wrote seven books and over 50 refereed papers.

Education/biography

Rob has a BMath (Actuarial Science) from the University of Waterloo, 1971. In 1976, he earned his Fellowship in the Society of Actuaries (FSA) and in 1977 his Fellowship in the Canadian Institute of Actuaries (FCIA). In 1980, Rob became an Associate member of the Casualty Actuarial Society (ACAS). He earned a MA (Gerontology) from the University of Waterloo in 1994 and a PhD in Gerontology from Simon Fraser University in 1997. In 2001, Rob earned his Fellowship in the Institute of Actuaries, (FIA), U.K.

Rob was president of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries in 1990/91, president of the Society of Actuaries in 2000/01 and president of the International Actuarial Association in 2014.

He was Research Chair for the Ontario Expert Commission on Pensions in 2007-08.

Rob retired from the University of Waterloo program in Actuarial Science in 2010 after 39 years of teaching and research and now resides in Victoria, B.C.

Selected publications

  • “The Power of the Collective: The Death of the Collective”, winner of the International Congress of Actuaries best paper award for Professionalism, Washington, DC, 2014.
  • “Impacts on Economic Security Programs of Rapidly Shifting Demographics” which won the John Hanson Memorial Prize for the Conference of Consulting Actuaries, best paper published in 2000. 
  • “Retirement: A Multi-Phased Transition”, winner of the Society of Actuaries Special Recognition Award for Papers in 1998.
  • “Paygo Stability and Intergenerational Equity”, winner of the SCOR Biennial International Papers Contest, First Prize, 1994.