Remembering 9/11

ome stories are remembered through headlines. Others are remembered through the people who lived them. This issue is dedicated to 534 insurance industry professionals lost during 9/11, denoted on the cover by window lights for each.

Our cover story by Jim Lynch revisits 9/11 through the recollections of actuaries whose lives were forever changed — those trapped in the World Trade Center, those stranded at the CAS Casualty Loss Reserve Seminar in New Orleans, and those waiting anxiously for loved ones to return home. It tells a deeply human story of uncertainty, resilience, and loss. At the same time, the story traces how the attacks reshaped the insurance industry, from record-breaking claims and landmark litigation to the creation of terrorism insurance and a hard market that influenced the profession for years to come. It’s a remarkable example of how personal experiences and industry advancement are inseparable, reminding us that behind every catastrophe are individual lives and behind every industry response are people determined to move forward.

This story offers more than a retrospective. It is a reminder that the actuarial profession has always been called upon to make sense of uncertainty in the wake of unimaginable events. While the decisions made in the months and years that followed 9/11 continue to influence the insurance marketplace today, the personal stories shared here ensure that the human impact is never overshadowed by the numbers. We hope this article honors both the profession’s response and the lives forever changed by that day.

This issue invites you to step back into a moment that changed history and to see it through the eyes of those who experienced it firsthand. Their memories, combined with the industry’s response, offer an important reminder of why this story requires retelling 25 years later.