Kenneth Zhou

Kenneth Q. Zhou is an Adjunct Faculty Advisor to the Actuarial Science program in the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences. He received his PhD in Actuarial Science from the University of Waterloo, and joined Arizona State University in Fall 2019. He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA) and an associate of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries (ACIA). He was also a Society of Actuaries James C. Hickman scholar from 2015 to 2019.

Kenneth’s research interests include insurance risk management, insurance data analytics, and Bayesian modeling and forecasting. In particular, he studies the technical and economic issues underlying life insurance practices, including stochastic mortality modeling and longevity risk management. His work also involves adapting statistical techniques to solve data-driven challenges and identify the source of financial and insurance risks. Some of his recent work focus on eradicating discrimination issues in actuarial modeling and pricing from the Bayesian perspective.

Kenneth’s research work has been published in statistical, actuarial and insurance journals, including the Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series A, Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, and Journal of Risk and Insurance. Some of his research findings are also published in professional publications, such as the Actuary Magazine and the Living to 100 Monograph. His paper on dynamic longevity hedging won the 2019 Redington Prize from the Society of Actuaries. Kenneth is also a frequent presenter at international conferences and university seminars, where he diligently disseminate his most recent research findings.

Kenneth is committed to actuarial education, mentorship and curriculum development. He has been teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in actuarial science and statistics. At Arizona State University, he has developed two new courses, entitled "Advanced Mortality Modeling and Management of Longevity Risk" and “Quantitative Risk Management”. Kenneth also supervises students at all levels, including undergraduate honors thesis, graduate applied project and PhD dissertation.