Peter Clark Memorial Lecture

Peter Clark was the first person to receive honorary membership of the Actuarial Society of South Africa. A past president of the UK Institute of Actuaries, Peter was President-elect of the International Actuarial Association when he passed away suddenly in June 2006.

Peter Clark was always a strong advocate of the global nature of the profession, and was an Institute delegate to the European Actuarial Consultative Group (the Groupe Consultatif) for 25 years. He had a great love for Africa, and a keen desire to assist in the continent’s development. He actively supported the growth of the African actuarial associations. His efforts in this regard, as well as staunch support for the Actuarial Society of South Africa’s bid to host the 2010 International Congress of Actuaries, resulted in honorary membership of the Actuarial Society being awarded to him.

During his term of office as president of the Institute, Peter Clark took as his three key themes communication, culture, and companionship. A facet of his compassion and desire to highlight key global issues – and the contribution the actuarial profession could make to help solve them – lay in his concern for the victims of the AIDS crisis, especially in Africa. His last visit to South Africa, in 2005, came about when no other office-bearer of the UK actuarial profession could attend the Actuarial Society Convention to present new qualifiers with their certificates. Peter used this opportunity to participate in the house-building exercise, which formed the outreach initiative at the Convention, as well.

The Council of the Actuarial Society of South Africa considered various ways in which to honour the memory of Peter Clark. It accordingly instituted the Peter Clark Memorial Lecture, to commemorate Peter’s contribution and to continue highlighting key global issues, as well as potential actuarial solutions to these. These annual lectures will be held in both Cape Town and Johannesburg, and will become a regular feature on the Actuarial Society calendar from now on.

Chris Daykin, former UK Government Actuary, delivered the 2008 Peter Clark Memorial Lecture