S. Ming Lee, President and CEO
Ming Lee is responsible for setting AIR’s global strategy and overseeing its worldwide operations. Since joining AIR in 1996, Mr. Lee has previously filled a number of senior leadership roles and led several departments. He has directed AIR’s pioneering modeling support for insurance-linked securities since their introduction and was directly involved in many of the insurance industry's landmark securitization transactions. Mr. Lee has also led AIR’s work in the corporate, government and weather risk management sectors, where he assisted corporations and government agencies in assessing their exposure to natural and man-made catastrophes. Mr. Lee is a member of the Governing Board of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Global Earthquake Model initiative and sits on the board of Atmospheric and Environmental Research (AER), which is on the forefront of research on global climate change and other issues in atmospheric science. A former U.S. Navy officer, Mr. Lee holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.B.A. from Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Uday Virkud, P.E., Executive Vice President
Uday Virkud is responsible for worldwide business development, strategic growth initiatives and product development areas at AIR. He also oversees AIR’s London, Munich, Beijing and Tokyo offices. He has led the company's growth in several markets including US, Bermuda, Europe and Japan and developing markets in Asia. Over the years he has provided strategic direction to several of AIR's most successful product initiatives including CATRADER®, ALERT™, CATStation®, TruExposure™ and Agriculture risk modeling. Mr. Virkud has over 25 years experience in risk management and consulting, and has assisted numerous insurance, reinsurance and broker clients in understanding and managing their catastrophe risk. He speaks at many industry forums on catastrophe risk management best practices and the need for improved data quality in the insurance industry—in both developed and developing markets. Before joining AIR, Mr. Virkud was a business consultant helping start operations in Asia. He also worked as a transportation planning consultant for a large engineering and planning company in the Northeast. He holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, an M.S. in Engineering Management from Northeastern University, and an M.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Jayanta Guin, Ph.D. Senior Vice President, Research and Modeling
Dr. Jayanta Guin is responsible for operational and strategic management of the AIR Research and Modeling team. Under his leadership, the team has expanded the global coverage of natural catastrophe models and continues to enhance existing models. Dr. Guin has over 14 years of experience in probabilistic risk analysis for natural catastrophes worldwide. He has led the research efforts on a number of capital markets transactions that involved the transfer of risk due to earthquakes, cyclones and windstorms. Dr. Guin received his B.S. in Civil Engineering from Jadavpur University in India, and earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the State University (SUNY) of New York, Buffalo, with a specialization in dynamic soil-structure interaction and computational mechanics.
David Lalonde, FCAS, FCIA, MAAA, Senior Vice President, Consulting and Client Services
David Lalonde is Senior Vice President in the Consulting and Client Services group, the members of which work one-on-one with clients to help them understand their risk profile and identify where and how catastrophe loss information can best be used in decision-making. Mr. Lalonde has a wealth of experience in the securitization of insurance risk and the use of dynamic financial analysis models for pricing, reserving, and corporate planning. He leads our capital market initiatives and manages the Decision Analytics, Reinsurer Client Service, and Regulation and Rating Agency teams.
Prior to joining AIR, Mr. Lalonde was a Director of Coopers & Lybrand. He is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society, a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries. He earned his B. Math (Honors) in Actuarial Science with Statistics from the University of Waterloo. He is a member of the Casualty Actuaries of the Northwest. He is the Chair of the Casualty Actuarial Society Advisory Committee on Securitization/Risk, a Financing Member of the American Academy of Actuaries, an Insurance Securitization Task Force Member, and serves on the Actuarial Standards Board, and the Task Force on Complex Models.
Bill Churney, Senior Vice President, Business Development and Marketing & Communications
Bill Churney is responsible for the team who provides support and service to AIR clients in the insurance, reinsurance and intermediary markets and oversees AIR’s global marketing strategy. Mr. Churney has been instrumental in helping AIR expand into new markets, including Latin America and South America and grow market share through providing superior service tailored to client's evolving needs. He is an expert in the area of how to derive maximum value from catastrophe models. Prior to joining AIR, he was product manager for a telecommunications services provider. Before that, he worked in operations management for an industrial supply distributor. Mr. Churney holds a B.A. in Economics from Haverford College and an M.B.A. from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. Mr. Churney has achieved the designation of Certified Catastrophe Modeler by completing the requirements of the AIR Institute Certified Catastrophe Modeler Program.
Paul Devlin, Senior Vice President, Treasurer and General Counsel
Paul Devlin manages the legal, financial, human resources, and administration of the company. Previously, Mr. Devlin served as Chief Operations Officer and General Counsel to the Institute for Business & Home Safety, a non-profit corporation funded by the property and casualty insurance industry. He has been a licensed attorney since 1982 and is a chartered property casualty underwriter. Paul graduated from Boston University School of Law and earned his B.A .in Economics from Dartmouth College.
Robert Newbold, Senior Vice President, Consulting and Client Services
Robert Newbold is a Senior Vice President in the Consulting and Client Services group. His primary responsibilities include software support, training, and the delivery of catastrophe modeling services for insurers, reinsurers, brokers, the capital markets, governments and private corporations. Prior to joining AIR, he worked at Deloitte Consulting as a Senior Consultant to the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare and an Information Analyst at Electronic Data Systems Corp. Mr. Newbold earned an M.B.A. and an M.S. in Information Systems from Boston University’s Graduate School of Management. He received a B.S. in Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia. Mr. Newbold has achieved the designation of Certified Catastrophe Modeler by completing the requirements of the AIR Institute Certified Catastrophe Modeler Program.
AIR Regional Leadership
Akshay Gupta, Ph.D., P.E, Vice President and Director of Catastrophe Risk Engineering Services
Dr. Akshay Gupta leads AIR’s San Francisco office and the company’s Catastrophe Risk Engineering practice, which focuses on providing corporate risk managers, brokers, and insurers with engineering-based, site-specific risk assessment services for high-value and complex facilities and operations. The San Francisco office also focuses on projects in support of disaster risk financing programs for sovereign states.
He has more than 15 years’ experience in natural hazard risk analysis, mitigation, and modeling. Dr. Gupta holds a B.Tech. in Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Structural Engineering from Stanford University, California. He is a member of various professional organizations and the author of numerous technical papers and reports. Dr. Gupta is a licensed professional engineer and is certified in the practice of structural engineering.
Praveen Sandri, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, AIR Worldwide India Private Limited
Dr. Praveen Sandri is responsible for managing strategic operations in India, including overseeing the client services and business development teams and providing strategic input to AIR’s research efforts. He previously specialized in the structural and wind engineering aspects of the AIR’s hurricane modeling technology. Dr. Praveen Sandri earned a Ph.D. and an M.S. in Civil Engineering at Texas Tech University in the area of wind/structural engineering. He earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Osmania University, India.
Milan Simic, Ph.D., Senior Vice President and Managing Director, AIR Worldwide Ltd.
Dr. Milan Simic is responsible for managing strategic operations in London, including overseeing the client services and business development teams and providing strategic input to AIR’s research efforts in the UK and Europe. His previous experience includes 19 years in risk assessment, engineering consulting, research, and teaching. Dr. Simic is a Chartered Engineer through the UK Institution of Civil Engineers. He earned his MSc in Hydraulic Structures from the University of Belgrade and a Ph.D. in Earthquake Engineering from the University of Bristol.
Yorn Tatge, Managing Director, AIR Worldwide GmbH
Yorn Tatge is Managing Director of AIR Worldwide GmbH in Munich, Germany. He is responsible for servicing clients in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Scandinavia, and Eastern and Southeastern Europe. Mr. Tatge has more than 16 years of catastrophe modeling experience. Before re-joining AIR Worldwide in January 2006, he spent eight years in Converium’s risk modeling department, most recently serving as a Senior Vice President. Prior to Converium, Mr. Tatge worked for six years as senior consultant and account manager for AIR Worldwide. During this time he was a member of the AIR research team that developed the first ever European Winter Storm Model and he also headed the AIR London office for its first two years. Mr. Tatge received his master's degree in business administration and economics from the University of Hannover, Germany.
