Distinguished Professor Krzysztof Ostaszewski will present “Risk Has a Price, But Prices Have Risk, Too” at 5 p.m. November 14, in the Old Main Room of the Bone Student Center at Illinois State University.

In the lecture, Dr. Ostaszewski asks the question: “What is the effect of risk faced by the seller?” In other words, what is the uncertainty of demand on the actual price charged on the consumer? 

The event is free and open to the public. 

Ostaszewski first came to Illinois State University in 2000. A native of Lodz, Poland, he earned a master’s degree in mathematics from the University of Lodz in 1980 and a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Washington in Seattle in 1985. At Illinois State, Ostaszewski is a distinguished professor of mathematics. 

He is the director of the Actuarial Science Program at Illinois State, the first one in Illinois to be designated as a Society of Actuaries Center of Actuarial Excellence.

Known among actuarial students worldwide as the creator of the “Darth Vader Rule,” to help students in passing professional actuarial exams, Ostaszewski has authored and coauthored two research monographs in mathematics published by the American Mathematical Society. His four research books in actuarial science were published by the Society of Actuaries, Elsevier, and Wydawnictwa NaukowoTechniczne in Poland. 

Ostaszewski is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a Fellow of the Singapore Actuarial Society. He received a Fulbright research fellowship to Poland, studying actuarial aspects of free market reforms, and is currently serving his third award as a Fulbright specialist.

His research in actuarial science has been published in the Journal of Risk and Insurance, The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance—Issues and Practice, North American Actuarial Journal, Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Journal of Insurance Regulation, Proceedings of the Casualty Actuarial Society, and other journals. 

Those with questions or who need accommodation to attend the lecture can email jadarga@ilstu.edu