Triple-I’s Chief Economist Retires and Is Appointed a Non-Resident Scholar

For immediate release
Triple-I Press Office: 904-806-7813, markf@iii.org

NEW YORK, Nov. 30, 2020—Dr. Steven Weisbart, the Insurance Information Institute’s (Triple-I) senior vice president and chief economist, retired this month after 15 years with the organization—13 as its chief economist. He will remain affiliated with the Triple-I as a non-resident scholar.

“Dr. Weisbart leaves an enduring legacy and we’re thrilled he’s agreed to join our non-resident scholar network,” said Sean Kevelighan, CEO, Triple-I. “His insightful economic analyses enhanced our industrywide credibility, and his creation of a non-resident scholar network broadened substantially our intellectual expertise and reach. He was a gifted writer and a team player who worked collaboratively with everyone at the Triple-I.”

“The Insurance Information Institute’s paper on How Insurance Drives Economic Growth is one of my proudest accomplishments because its findings reached a wide audience and provided the foundation for two Triple-I videos, A World Without Insurance? and Covered: The Story of a More Insured World,” Dr. Weisbart stated. “Beyond that, the numerous media interviews I conducted and the dozens of presentations I delivered each year are other great experiences I had only because I was the chief economist at the Insurance Information Institute.”

Dr. Weisbart, for instance, appeared in a CBS 60 Minutes segment on life insurance industry business practices in 2016. In addition, Dr. Weisbart often won strong reviews from conference attendees after making presentations to them on economic trends in the U.S.’s auto, home, and business insurance industries.

A year after coming to the Triple-I in 2005, Dr. Weisbart explored how a pandemic could impact the life insurance industry, a paper which is archived on the Triple-I’s website. “Nearly 15 years ago, I examined what might happen if something like 1918’s Spanish flu came back and targeted people in the prime of life amid concerns at the time about the avian flu,” Dr. Weisbart said. “My paper was one of the earliest on this threat; about two years later the Society of Actuaries reported on it using additional data, citing my paper among others.”

Before joining the Triple-I, he was an associate professor in the Department of Risk Management and Insurance at Georgia State University (1971-1978) and then a vice president at the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association (TIAA) between 1978 and 2005. He was elected to two terms on the board of directors of the American Risk and Insurance Association—a professional association mostly of college professors who teach insurance and related subjects, in which he has been a member and active participant for over 50 years.

In 2012, Dr. Weisbart was elected as a named fiduciary of the multiple-employer defined benefit pension plan in which the Triple-I participated and has continued in that capacity since then.

Dr. Weisbart has authored and co-authored four books as well as papers that have appeared in publications such as the Journal of Risk and Insurance, the Journal of Financial Service Professionals, the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) Journal, The Geneva Reports, and Best's Review. He also serves on the editorial board of the Risk Management and Insurance Review.

Dr. Weisbart received his Ph.D. and master of arts degrees in applied economics from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was an S.S. Huebner Foundation Fellow. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in English from Cornell University. Dr. Weisbart also holds the Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) credential and served as an elected member of Millburn, N.J.’s board of education (1983-1993).

The Triple-I, an affiliate of The Institutes, has a full library of educational videos on its YouTube Channel. Information about Triple-I mobile apps can be found here.