Quality 4/5Difficulty 1/5
Easy class and PJ was very engaging. He clearly knows the material he is teaching but doesn't overwhelm you with information. He is very caring and accommodating.Rate My Professors ↗
Current instructor
Paul Johnson
What students say
Original student reviews · all captured dates
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
PJ is great! The material for this class is difficult, but I felt that the exams were more predictable than 652. His slides are concise and is great at answering questions. Overall an incredible professor that truly cares about students.Rate My Professors ↗
Quality 5/5Difficulty 4/5
PJ did a great job making me feel welcome in his class and was always considerate and thoughtful in his explanations. He was always in a good mood and his class brightened my day (even when we had quizzes). I found this class very useful and intend to keep my notes for my job as a P&C actuary.Rate My Professors ↗
Quality 5/5Difficulty 5/5
The class material is very difficult but PJ does a good job explaining it to the best of his abilities. Outside of class he's a cool guy that cares about students. In my opinion, he's on the better end of Act Sci professors at UW.Rate My Professors ↗
Quality 5/5Difficulty 4/5
The class is naturally very difficult, but PJ makes it very clear and is always available and willing to answer questions about the material. The best way to study for exams and quizzes is by doing practice problems and making sure you understand the homework. He also will confirm homework answers during office hours.Rate My Professors ↗
Quality 2/5Difficulty 4/5
He does a lot of proving and reading slides in lectures. Not helpful when students ask questions after class, could be condescending, not sympathetic at all. I personally wont take any class with him anymoreRate My Professors ↗
Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.
Classes with Paul Johnson
Actuarial Statistics for Risk Modeling introduces statistical learning theory and methods for analyzing risks in actuarial applications, covering linear/nonlinear models, diagnostics, and variable selection.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2026: 3.65 GPA, 80.0% A/AB (n=30 letter grades).
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2024–Spring 2026 · limited sampleFundamentals of short-term actuarial modeling covering the definition and selection of probability distributions for heavily tailed and skewed insurance data.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Paul Johnson
Paul Johnson explained difficult material clearly using examples and proved concepts during lectures. Students found the tests and homework challenging but manageable through practice problems and his office hours, where he confirmed answers and remained available for questions.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Calculus-based introduction to statistical inference and modeling (regression, time series) applied to business data for decision-making under uncertainty.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.41 GPA, 59.4% A/AB (n=32 letter grades).
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2024–Spring 2026Recorded teaching history
Distinct courses recorded per term
Explore courses taught by this instructor →Browse recorded courses
| Term | Course | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Spring 2027 | ACTSCI 640 | Actuarial Statistics for Risk Modeling |
| Spring 2027 | ACTSCI 652 | Fundamentals of Short-term Actuarial Modeling |
| Spring 2027 | GENBUS 317 | Mathematical Foundations of Business Analytics |
| Fall 2026 | ACTSCI 652 | Fundamentals of Short-term Actuarial Modeling |
| Fall 2026 | ACTSCI 653 | Advanced Short-term Actuarial Modeling |
Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.
Instructor identity & provenance
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