Emeritus Professor of Actuarial Studies
Emeritus Professor J J McCutcheon
School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences
Heriot-Watt University
Riccarton
Edinburgh
EH14 4AS
Scotland
e-mail: j.j.mccutcheon@hw.ac.uk
Biographical notes
Many years previously, after secondary school in Glasgow, I became an undergraduate at St. John's College in the University of Cambridge, where I took Parts 1 and 2 of the Mathematical Tripos
On leaving Cambridge I bought a bowler hat and became an actuarial student in the Scottish Amicable Life Assurance Society in Glasgow. There I gained experience in a variety of actuarial work (e.g. ranging from pricing and reserving for many types of insurance and pension contracts to investment). At the same time I was taking the examinations of The Faculty of Actuaries in Scotland. I was admitted a Fellow of The Faculty in 1965. (Until 2010 in the UK there were two professional bodies for actuaries, The Faculty of Actuaries, based in Edinburgh, and The Institute of Actuaries, based in London and Oxford. In 2010 the two bodies merged (under the formal name "Institute and Faculty of Actuaries") as the Actuarial Profession).
I then left the world of life insurance and moved to Liverpool to become a consulting actuary with Duncan C Fraser and Company. My work as a consulting actuary was mainly in the areas of pension funds and investments.
My next move was into more abstract fields. I was appointed to a junior academic staff position in the Department of Pure Mathematics in the University of Liverpool . This enabled me to do research in algebra (soluble groups) and led to the award of the degree of Ph.D.
I left the University of Liverpool to become an Associate Professor in the Department of Actuarial and Business Mathematics (now the Warren Centre for Actuarial Studies and Research) in the University of Manitoba , Winnipeg, Canada. From Manitoba I moved to Heriot-Watt University.
During my time at Heriot-Watt I twice served as Head of Department (1989-1995 and 1998-2001). For three years (1995-1998) I was Dean of the Faculty of Science. In 2001 I retired from the University and was appointed Professor Emeritus.
For many years I was very closely involved with the affairs of the actuarial profession, both within the U.K. and internationally. I served The Faculty of Actuaries as a member of Council, Examiner, and Consultant Examiner. I have also served on the Council of the International Actuarial Association . I was privileged to be elected President of The Faculty of Actuaries for the period 1992-1994.
I am a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
Teaching
I have taught a range of courses in actuarial science, at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. The topics covered by my teaching include demography, mortality studies, life insurance mathematics, pension funds, graduation, and the mathematics of finance. I am co-author with W F Scott of the textbook An introduction to the mathematics of finance, published for the Faculty of Actuaries and the Institute of Actuaries.
In addition to my regular teaching duties with students on degree courses in Heriot-Watt University I have given lecture courses in universities in Central and Eastern Europe and in China. I have also given courses in basic actuarial skills to non-actuarial staff in the business world.
Research
An online "interview" for the Society of Actuaries, published in October 2018, is available here
Heriot-Watt University Actuarial Maths & Stats Actuarial Profession IAA RSE CMIB Mathematical Tripos