Catherine Mary Prime FIA FIAA B.Sc. Dip.Law (30 September 1942 - 11 February 2004) was a prominent Australian actuary and a pioneering Australian businesswoman.

She was Australia's first female actuary, recieved the Institute of Actuaries of Australia's Actuary of the Year award in 1988, and is a past president of both the Institute of Actuaries of Australia , and the International Actuarial Association.

Early Life

Catherine was born in Sydney in 1942 (WHERE??), the only child of Robert and Ruth Wishart. Robert father was a lawyer, her mother a pharmacist. The family moved frequently between Sydney and Brisbane during her childhood and she had the unsettling experience of attending seven primary schools.

In contrast, her secondary school years were all spent at Sydney Girls High School, where she showed a natural aptitude for mathematics and came second overall in her final high school year. The list of first-class honours mathematics students in the 1959 NSW Leaving Certificate included three future presidents of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia, among them Catherine.

University and early career

In 1960, Catherine commenced a science degree at the University of Sydney, majoring in mathematics and chemistry.

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It was during a holiday job in the company library of Amalgamated Wireless Australasia Limited that she met Alec Prime, an electrical engineer, whom she would later marry.

After completing her degree, she worked as a computer programmer first with the Sydney Stock Exchange and then MLC Assurance Co Ltd, where many of her male contemporaries were studying to become actuaries. At Alec's suggestion she commenced actuarial studies, which at that time involved private study after work by distance education for many years and sitting for exams set in London.

Australia's first female actuary

Catherine qualified as a fellow of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia in 1971, and became the first Australian female actuary. Her ability soon established her within MLC, where she was the only female in a senior management position. While New Idea touted her achievement as a win for women's liberation, she saw her achievements somewhat differently: "I certainly won't be rushing out to join women's liberation. I've liberated myself," she told an Australian newspaper in an interview at the time.

She subsequently completed a diploma in law and, on admission as a barrister in 1983, left MLC to become a partner of the actuarial consulting firm PTOW, which has since merged with Towers Perrin. Four years later, in 1987, she established her own consulting practice, Catherine Prime and Associates. Much of her work involved advising foreign governments on insurance and pension policy and she relished the opportunity her consulting provided to work in countries as varied as Indonesia, the Pacific Islands, China and Bulgaria.

TO BE COMPLETED: Together with fellow actuary Warren King, she established P&K Actuaries, which XXX.

Catherine gave generously of her time and energy to the profession throughout her career - in small ways, such as designing the fellowship certificates for the new Australian actuarial exams in 1980, and in more substantial ways, such as planning and participating in special actuarial courses in Indonesia.

In 1988 she was named the Institute of Actuaries of Australia's Actuary of the Year, and in 1991 she was elected it's president. She was the first female to receive either accolade, and the first person to achieve both.

In 1998 the International Actuarial Association was reorganised, and two years later Catherine was elected president, the first female, and the first and only Australian to fill this role.

After stepping down as president, she continued her tireless work for the actuarial profession up until her death.

Public Life

Catherine served on a number of boards of government and private organisations: the Trustee Corporation for NSW State Superannuation, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, Legal and General Australia, ANZ Staff Superannuation and the councils of both TAFE (NSW) and Cumberland College of Health Sciences. She made important contributions to university actuarial education as a director of the Macquarie University Actuarial Foundation and the Australian Universities Actuarial Foundation.

Family Life

Catherine led a very full and balanced life. She was a proud mother to Clive and Owen, born during her time at MLC, and loving wife of Alec, whom she married in 1965 and who designed the house they built in Asquith in 1970.

She had a passion for nature and the outdoors, evident in her gardens to which she lovingly tended, and while not one to suggest adventures in the wilderness, she was always eager to participate when such outings were suggested by her husband. A very feminine feminist, she staunchly refused to dine at a certain Sydney club because of its rules relating to women.

She died on the 11th of February 2004.