Welcome!
I am an Associate Professor of actuarial science and risk management at Temple University in Philadelphia. I teach in the undergraduate, Masters and PhD programs, I conduct academic research, and I serve as the academic director of the Risk Management and Insurance PhD program.
Most of my current research focuses on personal retirement savings products (such as variable annuities and RILAs), how insurers can value and hedge the embedded guarantees, and how these products should optimally be designed in view of policyholder behavior and market imperfections. More broadly, I am interested in topics across actuarial science, insurance economics, applied game theory, and behavioral economics. If you are interested in my work, please feel free to reach out!
I am an Associate of the Society of Actuaries and a member of the American Risk and Insurance Association. I also serve on the editorial board of the Journal of Risk and Insurance.
I received a PhD in Risk Management & Insurance from Georgia State University. Prior to that I studied Econo-Mathematics at the University of Karlsruhe (now KIT), Germany, and earned a M.S. degree in Mathematics (Actuarial Science Concentration) from the University of Connecticut.
My inspiration to pursue a PhD came from my interactions with UConn professors Jim Bridgeman and Jay Vadiveloo. Over the course of my studies and career I have become indebted to many other people for their teaching and guidance, but none more so than my dissertation advisor Dani Bauer.
A German native, I enjoy traveling, good food, football ("soccer") and tennis. I'm a fan of FC Barcelona and Die Mannschaft!