| Bernard Benjamin | |
|---|---|
| Born | 8 March 1910 London |
| Died | 15 May 2002 (aged 92) London |
| Residence | United Kingdom |
| Citizenship | United Kingdom |
| Alma mater | Sir John Cass College |
| Known for | Actuarial science, demography |
| Awards | Gold Medal of the Institute of Actuaries (1975) Guy Medal (Gold, 1986) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Statistics |
| Institutions | London County Council General Register Office UK Ministry of Health Greater London Council City University |
Bernard Benjamin (8 March 1910 – 15 May 2002) was a noted British health statistician, actuary and demographer. He was author or co-author of at least six books and over 100 papers in learned journals.
The British people, or the Britons, are the citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies. British nationality law governs modern British citizenship and nationality, which can be acquired, for instance, by descent from British nationals. When used in a historical context, "British" or "Britons" can refer to the Celtic Britons, the indigenous inhabitants of Great Britain and Brittany, whose surviving members are the modern Welsh people, Cornish people, and Bretons. It may also refer to citizens of the former British Empire.
A statistician is a person who works with theoretical or applied statistics. The profession exists in both the private and public sectors. It is common to combine statistical knowledge with expertise in other subjects, and statisticians may work as employees or as statistical consultants.
An actuary is a business professional who deals with the measurement and management of risk and uncertainty. The name of the corresponding field is actuarial science. These risks can affect both sides of the balance sheet and require asset management, liability management, and valuation skills. Actuaries provide assessments of financial security systems, with a focus on their complexity, their mathematics, and their mechanisms.
He was born in London and studied physics part-time at Sir John Cass College while working as an actuary for the London County Council pension fund, later moving to the public health section. Following wartime service as a statistician in the RAF he returned to the same civilian job and studied part-time for a PhD on the analysis of tuberculosis mortality. He was appointed Chief Statistician at the General Register Office in 1952, Director of Statistics at the Ministry of Health in 1963, then the first Director of the Intelligence Unit of the Greater London Council in 1966. In 1973 he became professor of actuarial science at City University, the first chair in actuarial science at an English university, where he designed the first undergraduate degree program in the subject in the country.
London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south-east of England, at the head of its 50-mile (80 km) estuary leading to the North Sea, London has been a major settlement for two millennia. Londinium was founded by the Romans. The City of London, London's ancient core − an area of just 1.12 square miles (2.9 km2) and colloquially known as the Square Mile − retains boundaries that follow closely its medieval limits. The City of Westminster is also an Inner London borough holding city status. Greater London is governed by the Mayor of London and the London Assembly.
Physics is the natural science that studies matter and its motion and behavior through space and time and that studies the related entities of energy and force. Physics is one of the most fundamental scientific disciplines, and its main goal is to understand how the universe behaves.
London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today known as Inner London and was replaced by the Greater London Council. The LCC was the largest, most significant and most ambitious English municipal authority of its day.
He was secretary-general of the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population from 1962 to 1963. He was president of the Institute of Actuaries from 1966 to 1968 and of the Royal Statistical Society from 1970 to 1972, [1] and was awarded the highest honours of both bodies – the Gold Medal (1975) and the Guy Medal in Gold (1986), respectively.
The Institute of Actuaries was one of the two professional bodies which represented actuaries in the United Kingdom. The Institute was based in England, while the other body, the Faculty of Actuaries, was based in Scotland. While the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries were separate institutions, they worked very closely together, and their professional qualifications and actuarial standards were identical. On 25 May 2010, voting members of the Institute who took part in a ballot voted to merge the Institute with the Faculty, thus creating the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, which came into being on 1 August 2010. The Institute of Actuaries ceased to exist on that date.
The Royal Statistical Society (RSS) is one of the world's most distinguished and renowned statistical societies. It has three main goals. The RSS is a British learned society for statistics, a professional body for statisticians, and a charity which promotes statistics for the public good.
The Guy Medals are awarded by the Royal Statistical Society in three categories; Gold, Silver and Bronze. The Silver and Bronze medals are awarded annually. The Gold Medal was awarded every three years between 1987 and 2011, but is awarded biennially as of 2019. They are named after William Guy.
