Press Release

Greenwald Research’s Mathew Greenwald and American Benefits Council’s James Klein Recognized With The Employee Benefit Research Institute’s 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award

Issued by EBRI [Employee Benefit Research Institute]

Dec. 22, 2025

(Washington, D.C.) – The Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) today recognized two benefits industry leaders — Mathew Greenwald, founder & managing director, Greenwald Research, and James A. Klein, senior advisor, American Benefits Council, with the 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award — for devoting their careers to preserving, protecting and enhancing retirement security and health benefits.

“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. I feel fortunate to have worked with Matt and Jim during my tenure at EBRI. They have established themselves as true industry leaders and well deserving of the EBRI Lifetime Achievement Award,” said Barb Marder, president & CEO, EBRI.

Mathew Greenwald is founder & managing director, strategic initiatives, at Greenwald Research. Greenwald 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 has 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.  “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.”

James A. Klein is senior advisor to the American Benefits Council. Klein has been with the council for more than 37 years, including 33 years as president. Prior to joining the council, Klein was a practicing ERISA attorney and later manager of pension & 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. 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. Throughout my career I have relied on the unsurpassed credibility of EBRI research and data to inform my work,” said Klein.

Previous 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award recipients included Phyllis Borzi, J. Mark Iwry and posthumously David Kasiarz. The annual EBRI Lifetime Achievement Award is the successor to the EBRI Ray Lillywhite Award, which previously honored leaders in the employee benefits community, including U.S. Senators Rob Portman and Ben Cardin and Nobel laureate William F. Sharpe, Professor Emeritus at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

The Employee Benefit Research Institute is a non-profit, independent and unbiased resource organization that provides the most authoritative and objective information about critical issues relating to employee benefit programs in the United States. The organization also coordinates activities for the Center for Research on Health Benefits Innovation, Financial Wellbeing Research Center, Retirement Security Research Center and produces a variety of leading industry surveys during the year. For more information, visit www.ebri.org.

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