Ecology Chair honoured

Congratulations to our Chair, Louise Pryor, who has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Anglia Ruskin University in recognition of her work to make the financial services sector more sustainable and responsible.

Louise was made an Honorary Doctor of Science at a ceremony in Cambridge, where she also gave a speech to students graduating from the Faculty of Science and Engineering.

Vice Chancellor of Anglia Ruskin University, Professor Roderick Watkins, presented the award, saying: “With a keen focus on sustainability, Dr Pryor is a bold and fierce champion of positive change.”

The University said the honour was in recognition of Louise’s “outstanding and varied career as an actuary, software engineer and academic,” praising her inspirational leadership in championing sustainability in the financial services industry. It described her as “a pioneer in modelling the financial and economic impacts of climate change in insurance”.

The award citation states:

“Your passion, determination and commitment to transforming the financial services sector towards a more sustainable and responsible practice is inspiring.

“And the impact you made while President of the IFoA (The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries), in reviewing the continuing professional development of the profession and championing the need for integrating knowledge about climate change and sustainability into their curriculum, demonstrates your transformational leadership approach.

“Your view that we need to keep abreast of the changing world and how we should seize the resulting opportunities will make you a powerful role model for our students.”

Louise joined our Board in February 2020 and has been Ecology’s Chair since March 2023.

She is an actuary and risk specialist with 30 years of experience in actuarial consulting, software development and academia, having worked with a variety of clients in the public and private sectors.

As well as being a past President of the IFoA, Louise is an Honorary Professor in the Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and leads the Actuaries Carbon Collaboration, which works on issues around carbon emissions and offsets.