Prof. dr. Roger J. A. Laeven (1979) has been a Full Professor, Chair of Mathematics and Economics of Risk, at the Department of Quantitative Economics of the University of Amsterdam since 2011. Furthermore, he has been a Visiting Research Professor at Princeton University, Bendheim Center for Finance, since 2007.
He serves as Editor of Insurance: Mathematics and Economics (Elsevier). He is the Director and Co-Founder of the Amsterdam Center of Excellence in Risk and Macro Finance (ACRM).
Roger holds an MSc (Fields: Actuarial Science and Econometrics, With highest honors) and a PhD (Fields: Actuarial Science and Econometrics, With highest honors), both from the University of Amsterdam. In 2004, he was a visiting research fellow at the London School of Economics, Department of Statistics. From 2001-2005 he was a part-time consultant for Mercer Oliver Wyman, from 2007-2011 he was a tenured Associate Professor at Tilburg University, and from 2016-2021 he was a part-time Professor of Quantitative Risk Management at KU Leuven.
RESEARCH
Roger's research spans the fields of Actuarial Science, Mathematical Finance, Probability Theory and Mathematical Statistics, Financial Econometrics, Operations Research, and (Micro) Economic Theory, and has appeared in the top academic journals in all these fields.
His areas of specialization include measurement of risk, decision under uncertainty, risk modeling in time and space and semi-martingale theory, and their ramifications in insurance and finance. His current research interests focus on the mathematics and economics of modern risks, including financial-economic risks, environmental risks, and technological risks.
"Fascinated by risk. Aims at developing: (i) probabilistic models and statistical & econometric methods to assess 21st-century insurance and financial, environmental, and technological risks; and (ii) measures & decision theories to economically evaluate and optimally manage them."
SELECTION OF GRANTS AND PRIZES
Roger's PhD thesis was awarded the Christiaan Huygens Prize 2007 by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW).
In 2006, he was awarded a VENI Grant by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) for "Measurement of Multivariate Risk in Insurance and Finance"; in 2009 he was awarded a VIDI Grant by NWO for "Econometrics of Contagion in Insurance and Finance"; and in 2020 he was awarded a VICI Grant by NWO for "21st-Century Risks: Tackling the Complex Interplay of Risks in Time and Space".
Other recent research awards and grants include a VvV Grant (Risk and Insurance, 2012-2016), the FBdF Grant 2013/14, the ASX Prize 2014, a VvV Grant (Risk and Regulation, 2017-2021) and a VvV Grant (Risk and Resilience, 2022-2024).
OTHER ACADEMIC TIES
Roger is Director of the Risk and Macro Finance Research Focal Area at the University of Amsterdam; holds a courtesy appointment in the Department of Finance of the University of Amsterdam; is Scientific Advisor to Eurandom (Co-Director of the Multivariate Risk Modeling group); and Extramural Fellow of CentER (research groups Econometrics and Finance).
CORPORATE TIES
The Chair of Mathematics and Economics of Risk that Roger holds is sponsored by the Dutch Association of Insurers.
OTHER ACTIVITIES
Roger's expertise has been called for e.g., by the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB), the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), the European Parliament (EP), the Dutch Central Bank (DNB), the Dutch Ministry of Finance, the 2014/15 Commissie Verzekeraars and the Dutch Association of Insurers.
Roger has been a selected academic member of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority's Insurance and Reinsurance Stakeholder Group (IRSG, 1st mandate 2016-2018, 2nd mandate 2018-2020).
He serves on a regular basis as academic advisor to the insurance and financial industry.