AIR Worldwide Appoints Roger Grenier to Lead Global Resilience Practice

BOSTON, Feb. 5, 2018 — Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide (AIR) announced that it has appointed Dr. Roger Grenier as senior vice president of global resilience to lead AIR’s resilience initiatives across the globe. These initiatives are aimed at developing solutions that aid society’s efforts to better prepare for and recover from extreme events. AIR Worldwide is a Verisk (Nasdaq:VRSK) business.

“I’m extremely excited to join AIR to further develop the company’s public risk strategy,” said Grenier. “I look forward to assisting governments and nongovernmental organizations to strengthen their emergency management programs and help them prepare for natural and man-made catastrophes before disasters strike.”

AIR’s global resilience practice serves these distinct roles:
• develop solutions that aid society’s efforts to better prepare for extreme events
• assist organizations in applying catastrophe modeling to disaster risk financing in an effort to close the global protection gap
• establish alliances with organizations to share data and advance the science of modeling and help society better manage the risks from natural hazards
• strengthen relationships with regulatory bodies and rating agencies globally

According to a report released by AIR in November, global economic losses from catastrophes average roughly USD 345 billion annually, of which less than 20% are insured. The difference, which represents the protection gap, was starkly illustrated by the hurricanes of 2017. Only a small percentage of home and business owners in Houston carried flood insurance, and Maria’s impact on Puerto Rico will be felt for months, if not years, to come.

Grenier began his career as an engineer where he worked on a wide array of models for environmental, flood, and coastal engineering projects, including helping to develop a comprehensive water quality and circulation model for New York Harbor. He has 20 years of experience working directly with global risk models and was formerly director of catastrophe research and development at Liberty Mutual, where he was responsible for developing the Liberty view of catastrophe risk and developing techniques to evaluate non-modeled catastrophe risk worldwide.

“As evidenced by our long history of working with an array of governmental and nongovernmental organizations around the world, AIR is well positioned to inform public disaster financing and other risk reduction initiatives,” said Rob Newbold, executive vice president, AIR Worldwide. “We’re pleased to have Dr. Grenier lead our global resilience practice by leveraging his vast catastrophe modeling knowledge and expertise in global risk management.”

Grenier holds a B.S. in civil engineering from Tufts University, a M.S. in civil engineering from Stanford University, and a Ph.D. in civil engineering from North Carolina State University.

About AIR Worldwide

AIR Worldwide (AIR) provides risk modeling solutions that make individuals, businesses, and society more resilient to extreme events. In 1987, AIR Worldwide founded the catastrophe modeling industry and today models the risk from natural catastrophes, terrorism, pandemics, casualty catastrophes, and cyber attacks globally. Insurance, reinsurance, financial, corporate, and government clients rely on AIR’s advanced science, software, and consulting services for catastrophe risk management, insurance-linked securities, site-specific engineering analyses, and agricultural risk management. AIR Worldwide, a Verisk (Nasdaq:VRSK) business, is headquartered in Boston, with additional offices in North America, Europe, and Asia. For more information, please visit www.air-worldwide.com.