Erwann O. Michel-Kerjan

At Harvard, Dr. Erwann Michel-Kerjan is Senior Associate at the Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Senior Advisor to the Homeland Security Project. Widely recognized as a trusted voice on major multi-vector, systemic risks and financial resilience, he collaborates with governments, multinationals, and Fortune 500 corporations to navigate high-volatility environments—including, more recently, Artificial General Intelligence.

A veteran of major organizational transformations, he spent a decade as Partner and Global Co-leader for Risk in Insurance at McKinsey & Company until recently. He was also a member of the firm’s People Development Committee. Across numerous engagements, he partnered with CEOs and boards of leading institutions to architect capital optimization frameworks, manage complex non-financial risks, and deploy market solutions that reduced the protection gap facing millions of people exposed to extreme events. Notably, his teams helped the federal government design and launch the Nation’s largest community resilience program, supported by successive U.S. Presidents.

From 2008 to 2017, Dr. Michel-Kerjan was elected for two five-year terms as Chairman of the OECD Secretary-General’s Board on Financial Management of Catastrophes. The Board introduced novel sovereign financing models and fostered international cooperation across the 38 member countries—with key initiatives actively addressing the G20—to strengthen national economies against catastrophic shocks. In the aftermath of the historic 2010 earthquake in Chile, one of the largest recorded on Earth, he was appointed advisor to the newly elected Chilean President; the country's recovery remains one of the fastest in modern history.

During his tenure as Executive Director of the Wharton Risk Management and Decision Processes Center (2013–2017) at the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton championed innovative research that supported insurance market solutions and informed landmark laws addressing terrorism threats and natural disasters. Parallel to his institutional leadership, he served on the advisory board to the CEO and Chairman of international insurer AXA Group and on the board of the reinsurer SCOR Foundation. He further counseled the World Bank and the Gates Foundation on designing advanced risk-modeling for high-priority initiatives.

A founding member of the influential World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report (now in its 21st edition) and a regular speaker in Davos, he was honored by the WEF as a Young Global Leader. An award-winning author of six books and over 150 publications in leading journals—including Nature and Science—he often provides accessible insights in prominent media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Economist, Bloomberg, Le Monde, and major television networks.

A French-American dual citizen, he studied at École Polytechnique (France), McGill University, and Wharton, and completed advanced programs at HKS (alumnus) and MIT.