Jim Tilley
Encyclopedia
Jim Tilley Canadian-born and a physicist by education, is an American poet who previously worked at senior management levels in the insurance and investment banking businesses.
in 1971 with a First-Class Honors degree in Physics, winning the Anne Molson Gold Medal for Mathematics and Natural Philosophy. He earned a Ph.D. in Physics from Harvard University
in 1975 and then joined Sun Life of Canada at its U.S. headquarters in Wellesley, Massachusetts, qualifying as a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries in 1977. He worked at the John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company in Boston from 1978 to 1981 when he moved to New York in the Group Pensions Department of Equitable Life Assurance.
In 1983, Dr. Tilley joined the Wall Street firm, Morgan Stanley
, where he remained until his retirement in 2001. While at Morgan Stanley, he headed Worldwide Fixed Income Research and ended his career as Institutional Securities’ Chief Information Officer.
During his careers in the insurance industry and on Wall Street, Jim Tilley wrote many pioneering research papers and was twice awarded the Society of Actuaries’ Annual Prize and also the Triennial Prize. His papers have also won awards from the Institute for Quantitative Research in Finance and the Casualty Actuarial Society. In 2008, he was named to receive the International Insurance Institute’s Founders’ Award for his seminal work in the field of asset-liability management.
Dr. Tilley has served on the Board of the Society of Actuaries, as Chair of The Actuarial Foundation, on the Board of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and as Chair of its Investment Committee. He was also Chair of the International Actuarial Association’s finance and investments section (AFIR) and was a keynote speaker on the application of modern techniques in investments and finance to the management of insurance and pension funds at the 1988 International Congress of Actuaries in Helsinki.
. His poems range from lyric to narrative, and while he generally writes in free verse, about half the poems in the book are in the form of sonnets.
A sample of Jim Tilley’s poems can be found on his website, http://jimtilley.net.
Of Jim Tilley’s book, “In Confidence,” Billy Collins
, U.S. Poet Laureate from 2001–2003, writes:
Jim Tilley does confide in his readers here as he explores a refreshing variety of subjects—everything from the complexity of father-son and husband-wife relations to the more solvable problems of dark matter and the origins of the cosmos. But what wins our confidence is not his range but his steady hand on the poem and his steady gaze at the world.
David Wojhan
, who was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize
in Poetry in 2007:
“Jim Tilley is a bracing and quietly confident writer, able to consistently surprise us, whether in missives from domestic life, topical poems, or poems which quirkily address what he calls ‘the big questions.’ These are wry, bittersweet, and unobtrusively instructive poems in the tradition of Wilbur, Schuyler, and Dunn, and they are very much worth reading.”
He is also featured in an article, “The Poet of Wall Street,” in Westchester Magazine:
and also in an interview, “In Confidence: An Interview with Poet Jim Tilley,” by Charles Coté, a fellow poet:
Career
Jim Tilley was born in Montreal, Canada in 1950. He graduated from St. Johns High School in St. Jean, Quebec in 1967 and from McGill UniversityMcGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
in 1971 with a First-Class Honors degree in Physics, winning the Anne Molson Gold Medal for Mathematics and Natural Philosophy. He earned a Ph.D. in Physics from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in 1975 and then joined Sun Life of Canada at its U.S. headquarters in Wellesley, Massachusetts, qualifying as a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries in 1977. He worked at the John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company in Boston from 1978 to 1981 when he moved to New York in the Group Pensions Department of Equitable Life Assurance.
In 1983, Dr. Tilley joined the Wall Street firm, Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City serving a diversified group of corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals. Morgan Stanley also operates in 36 countries around the world, with over 600 offices and a workforce of over 60,000....
, where he remained until his retirement in 2001. While at Morgan Stanley, he headed Worldwide Fixed Income Research and ended his career as Institutional Securities’ Chief Information Officer.
During his careers in the insurance industry and on Wall Street, Jim Tilley wrote many pioneering research papers and was twice awarded the Society of Actuaries’ Annual Prize and also the Triennial Prize. His papers have also won awards from the Institute for Quantitative Research in Finance and the Casualty Actuarial Society. In 2008, he was named to receive the International Insurance Institute’s Founders’ Award for his seminal work in the field of asset-liability management.
Dr. Tilley has served on the Board of the Society of Actuaries, as Chair of The Actuarial Foundation, on the Board of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and as Chair of its Investment Committee. He was also Chair of the International Actuarial Association’s finance and investments section (AFIR) and was a keynote speaker on the application of modern techniques in investments and finance to the management of insurance and pension funds at the 1988 International Congress of Actuaries in Helsinki.
Retirement
Since his retirement from Morgan Stanley in 2001, Jim Tilley has been writing poetry. More than 40 of his poems have been published in various literary journals and magazines, among which are Southwest Review, Southern Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, Sycamore Review, Tar River Poetry, Southern Poetry Review, Atlanta Review, Florida Review and New Delta Review. He has won the Sycamore Review’s Wabash Prize for Poetry, the New England Poetry Club’s Firman Houghton Award, and the Editors’ Choice Award from Rhino. Four of his poems have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.Poetry
Jim Tilley's work appears in the college textbook anthology “Literature to Go” (Bedford/St. Martin’s), edited by Michael Meyer. His first book of poetry, “In Confidence,” was published in January 2011 by Red Hen PressRed Hen Press
Red Hen Press is an American non-profit press specializing in the publication of literary fiction and poetry located in Pasadena, California. Founded by Kate Gale, the mission of Red Hen Press is to discover, publish, and promote works of literary excellence that have been overlooked by mainstream...
. His poems range from lyric to narrative, and while he generally writes in free verse, about half the poems in the book are in the form of sonnets.
A sample of Jim Tilley’s poems can be found on his website, http://jimtilley.net.
Of Jim Tilley’s book, “In Confidence,” Billy Collins
Billy Collins
Billy Collins is an American poet, appointed as Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003. He is a Distinguished Professor at Lehman College of the City University of New York and is the Senior Distinguished Fellow of the Winter Park Institute, Florida...
, U.S. Poet Laureate from 2001–2003, writes:
Jim Tilley does confide in his readers here as he explores a refreshing variety of subjects—everything from the complexity of father-son and husband-wife relations to the more solvable problems of dark matter and the origins of the cosmos. But what wins our confidence is not his range but his steady hand on the poem and his steady gaze at the world.
David Wojhan
David Wojahn
David Wojahn is a contemporary American poet who teaches poetry in the Department of English at Virginia Commonwealth University, and in the low residency MFA in Writing program at the Vermont College of Fine Arts...
, who was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
The Pulitzer Prize in Poetry has been presented since 1922 for a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author. However, special citations for poetry were presented in 1918 and 1919.-Winners:...
in Poetry in 2007:
“Jim Tilley is a bracing and quietly confident writer, able to consistently surprise us, whether in missives from domestic life, topical poems, or poems which quirkily address what he calls ‘the big questions.’ These are wry, bittersweet, and unobtrusively instructive poems in the tradition of Wilbur, Schuyler, and Dunn, and they are very much worth reading.”
External links
Jim Tilley is featured in a newspaper article, “Poetry offers new directions for Jim Tilley,” in the Bedford Pound Ridge Record Review:- http://www.record-review.com/record-review/RRLEAD021111.html
He is also featured in an article, “The Poet of Wall Street,” in Westchester Magazine:
- http://www.westchestermagazine.com/Westchester-Magazine/March-2011/The-Poet-of-Wall-Street/
and also in an interview, “In Confidence: An Interview with Poet Jim Tilley,” by Charles Coté, a fellow poet:
- http://charlescote.blogspot.com/2011/03/in-confidence-interview-with-poet-jim.html