Catastrophe modelling company AIR Worldwide has announced that its current president and chief executive officer Karen Clark will step down and assume the role of vice-chairman of the board of AIR, from April 15.

S. Ming Lee, currently the company’s executive vice president, will succeed her as president and chief executive officer.

AIR produces computer models used by many Bermuda insurance and reinsurance companies to help estimate future losses from catastrophes.

As the founder of AIR Worldwide, Ms Clark in 1987 pioneered probabilistic catastrophe modelling techniques. In 2000, she was selected by Business Insurance magazine as one of the “Top 100 Women in the Insurance Industry.”

“Karen’s contributions to the insurance industry are significant and widely recognised,” said Frank Coyne, chairman, president and chief executive officer of ISO, AIR’s parent company.

“I cannot overstate the groundbreaking quality of Karen’s work on behalf of the property/casualty industry and many other businesses and governmental agencies that must anticipate and prepare for natural and man-made catastrophes.”

Ms Clark said: “When I started AIR the need for objective scientific tools for catastrophe risk assessment was clear. Catastrophe modelling as a recognised insurance discipline did not exist, so I took up the challenge. Now, the next frontier lies in working more closely with decision makers in the industry to foster a deeper understanding of the models and how to use them most effectively. I’ve decided the time is right for me to rebalance my activities and pursue new challenges.”

Mr. Lee joined AIR in 1996 and has managed several departments over the past decade. He currently directs the operations of AIR’s Consulting and Software Services Group, encompassing software product management and testing, technical support and catastrophe loss analysis services.

Since the introduction of catastrophe bonds, he has led AIR’s modelling support for insurance-linked securities and was directly involved in many of the insurance industry’s landmark securitisation transactions. Before joining AIR, Lee held senior executive positions at several leading information technology companies.

A former US Navy officer, Mr. Lee is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford Graduate School of Business.

“AIR’s new models and updates to existing models will advance the science of catastrophe modelling, and our planned software updates will provide greater analytical insight and enhance our clients’ productivity,” Mr. Lee said.