Raynald is Vice President in the Montreal office of Aon Consulting, a Fortune-500 company based in Chicago, Illinois. He is the consultant on the life, health, disability and dental plan of the largest professional association in Canada (175,000 members) and several pension plans. He is also the actuary for an account representing several major Canadian financial institutions and covering millions of credit cards.

In addition to his vast experience in the design and financing of pension and group insurance plans, Raynald has a specific expertise in data analysis, statistical analysis and simulation, as well as in the area of stochastic and actuarial projections. He uses SPSS programs to analyze consumption of 100% of prescription drugs and medical services by employees (and dependants) of large Canadian employers. This includes trend analysis, benchmarking, costs by various demographic, geographic variables as well as identification of high users, potential fraudulent situations, incorrect application of contractual clauses, etc.

When I hit upon the idea for this project, my first thought was to enlist Ray’s cooperation and support. I had introduced myself to Ray at the 2004 SPSS users conference in Las Vegas and had corresponded with him a few times since my initial e-mail. After thinking about my invitation for a day or two, he graciously agreed to be a part of the project, invited me to be a guest at his home when I visited Montreal and, furthermore, helped me select other candidates for the project. I was surprised, though, when one of the first names he mentioned was one I was not familiar with, Kirill Orlov in Moscow. Kirill had learned of Ray through his web site and wrote to him,

I was just recently informed about the existence of your beautiful site by one the Moscow staff of SPSS office in Moscow. It is pity that being an SPSS user since 1995 I didn't know of the site.

Call me brilliant, but getting Ray’s cooperation up front was a key element in the success of my project. Not only would I get a chance to interview the SPSS expert I most admired, Ray’s participation would launch me on travels beyond the modest goals of my original plan.