Early Life and Career
Wendell Milliman was born December 13, 1905, in Seattle. He grew up in the family home on 15th Avenue NE, north of the University of Washington (UW). He attended Lincoln High School and then entered the UW, receiving his degree in mathematics in 1926. It was while attending the UW that he met his future wife, Dorothy Pierce, who was studying library science. He married Dorothy soon after he obtained a job as a clerk in the actuarial department of Oregon Mutual Life Insurance Company (later Standard Insurance Company), in Portland, Oregon.
After two years in Portland, Milliman returned to Seattle for a job with Northwestern Mutual Accident Association, a predecessor of Northwestern Life Insurance Company. In 1929, he went to work for the Seattle Employees’ Retirement System, helping develop the city’s new retirement plan. He quickly decided that employment with a large Eastern firm would help his career and accepted a position in the actuarial department of New York City-based Equitable Life Assurance Society. He worked there for 18 years, during which time he achieved fellowship status in the Actuarial Society (1934) and rose to the rank of vice president in the firm (1945).
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