EBRI’s 2025 Lifetime Achievement Awards Commend 2 Industry Veterans

The Employee Benefit Research Institute today recognized two benefits industry leaders—Mathew Greenwald and James A. Klein—with its Lifetime Achievement Award. The two were recognized for “devoting their careers to preserving, protecting and enhancing retirement security and health benefits.”

(from left to right) James A. Klein, Barb Marder, Mathew Greenwald

“For close to four decades, Matt and Jim’s work shaped how American workers prepare for and navigate their healthcare and retirement, and both have left an enduring mark on our industry,” said Barb Marder, EBRI’s president and CEO, in a statement. “I feel fortunate to have worked with Matt and Jim during my tenure at EBRI.”

Greenwald, the managing director of Greenwald Research, founded the company in 1985 and is a recognized retirement research expert with more than 40 years of experience. He is an inductee in the Insured Retirement Institute’s Hall of Fame and earned a Ph.D. in sociology from Rutgers University.

“It is especially meaningful to get this award from EBRI, an organization that I believe shares Greenwald Research’s strong motivation to help companies in the employee benefits area and also contribute to enhancing the retirement security of Americans,” said Greenwald in a statement. “I’ve dedicated my career to research on financial security before and in retirement. Being recognized by our long-time partner, EBRI, for my work is a great honor.”

Klein is now a senior adviser to the American Benefits Council after 33 years as its president. Prior to joining the council, Klein was a practicing attorney, specializing in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, and later was the manager of pension and health care policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

“Because the Employee Benefit Research Institute is held in the highest esteem by the entire employee benefits community, recognition by EBRI is an exceptional honor,” Klein said in a statement. “I gratefully accept this award not only on my own behalf, but also in recognition of the extraordinary accomplishments of my colleagues on the American Benefits Council staff, and the support and guidance from our member companies.”

Last year’s Lifetime Achievement Award recipients included Phyllis Borzi, J. Mark Iwry and (posthumously) David Kasiarz. The annual EBRI Lifetime Achievement Award is the successor to EBRI’s Ray Lillywhite Award, which previously honored leaders in the employee benefits community. Its former winners include U.S. Senators Rob Portman and Ben Cardin and Nobel laureate William F. Sharpe, a professor emeritus at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.