Lena is a leading practitioner and researcher in pensions, healthcare and insurance. She brings deep experience in risk analytics and modeling across all sorts of complex financial systems.

Lena was most recently senior research actuary at Principal Financial Group where she was instrumental in the development of various financial tools and approaches, including their discount rate yield curve and various liability-driven investment strategies. She is one of the nation’s leading experts in mortality, longevity and credibility, and volunteers extensively in support of professional and industry-wide mortality models.

Prior to Principal, Lena was a pension actuary and consultant at Buck Consultants. Her professional career followed a series of prestigious academic accomplishments and positions. After receiving her PhD in algebraic geometry from the University of Maryland, she held postdoc positions at the University of Pennsylvania and at the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in Berkeley. During her academic career, Lena taught a variety of undergraduate and graduate mathematics courses, conducted research, and published research papers in algebraic geometry. Her tenure-track position was at the University of Oklahoma.

In summary, Lena is a fully credentialed actuary, a CFA^® charterholder, and an accomplished and published mathematician. She is an active volunteer in support of the research and public policy efforts of the Society of Actuaries and the American Academy of Actuaries.