Michael Sherris is a part-time Professor in the School of Risk and Actuarial Studies having retired in 2016. He was Head of Actuarial Studies at UNSW until 2010 having been appointed to UNSW in 1998 to establish the Actuarial Studies program. Before joining UNSW, he was an Associate Professor in Actuarial Studies at Macquarie University. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia, the Institute of Actuaries (UK) and the Society of Actuaries (North America). His part time role concentrates on research, research student supervision and mentoring of early career researchers particularly through the ARC Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research where he is a Chief Investigator and Director of Industry Engagement.

Prior to becoming an academic he worked in the banking and finance industry for a number of major banks and a life insurance company. He has been an active member of the Australian actuarial profession having served on the Council of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia. He has previously been actively involved in course development for the Finance and Investment Management courses of the Institute, and served as a Chief Examiner for the Finance course and an examiner for the Investment and General Insurance courses. He served as an Associate Editor of the North American Actuarial Journal from 1997-2004 and is an Associate Editor of the Asia Pacific Journal of Risk and Insurance, Associate Editor of the Annals of Actuarial Science and is a Co-Editor of the North American Actuarial Journal since 2017. He is a co-editor of the Springer Actuarial Series. He was President (2008-2009) of the Asia Pacific Risk and Insurance Association and a Board and Executive Member of the Enterprise Risk Management Institute International (ERMII). He was Chair of the AFIR-ERM Section of the International Actuarial Association and serves on the International Actiuarial Association's Mortality Working Group since 2017.