Stephen Bennett, J.D.
Assistant Director for Business Development, Scripps Institution of Oceanography; Executive Director, SPHEAR
Stephen Bennett recently joined the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. Scripps is one of the world’s oldest, largest, and preeminent centers for ocean and earth research, teaching and public education. Most recently, the Scripps team served among the leadership of the Nobel Prize winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Mr. Bennett is assistant director for business development and executive director of the “Scripps Partnership for Hazards and Environmental Applied Research” (SPHEAR). Launched in 2008, this global consortium is geared to those in the private sector who link financial risk to weather, climate and natural catastrophes. SPHEAR’s mission is to bring corporate partners face-to-face with thought-leaders across the research community to develop applications for weather forecasters, risk managers, investors and insurers.
Prior to joining Scripps Mr. Bennettt was the director of reinsurance research for Citadel Investment Group, L.L.C. in Chicago. Citadel is one of the world’s leading hedge funds with nearly $20 billion of capital under management and over 1,000 employees across the world. Mr. Bennett’s team was tasked with technology/infrastructure development, quantification of risk and geophysical research. The full range of geophysical hazards from hurricanes to earthquakes represents the primary risk to reinsurance portfolios.
Prior to moving into his current role, Mr. Bennett managed a team of weather analysts and meteorologists as a part of Citadel’s energy trading desk. Much of his professional career has been dedicated to meteorology and weather research as applied to financial markets and the media. Mr. Bennett worked as a broadcast meteorologist for WeatherData Inc. before joining the radio division of Weather Services Corporation. He was a weather forecaster and product developer for The Weather Channel before moving into the financial sector as a research meteorologist for the Enron Corporation.
A native of Conyers, GA, Mr. Bennett’s educational foundation is in meteorology, having obtained a Bachelor of Science from the University of South Alabama. His degree is augmented by training in leadership/management and legal studies. Mr. Bennett recently received his J.D. from The John Marshall Law School. He is also a principal investor and CEO of Cirrus Properties L.L.C., a North Carolina firm specializing in real estate development and consulting. Mr. Bennett is also an active member of the American Meteorological Society with a passion for linking academic research and business applications.