A Career of Risk and Uncertainty
Presentation by Dr. Vicki Bier
Date: Friday, January 29, 2021
Time: 10 am PST/1 pm EST
On Friday, January 29, 2021 at 10 am PST/1 pm EST, the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison will present a talk by Dr. Vicki Bier titled, “A Career of Risk and Uncertainty."
Dr. Bier, an External Senior Research Fellow at CREATE, will discuss the background that led her to focus on risk and uncertainty during her career, and the major themes of her work, including applications to nuclear-power safety, terrorism, and pandemic preparedness. She will briefly discuss key lessons learned, including the value of decision analysis as a lens through which to view difficult problems, the ways in which theory and practice can mutually inform each other, and the advantages of reading widely. Finally, she will briefly mention recent research projects explored during the past year.
Dr. Bier recently retired from a joint appointment as Professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering and the Department of Engineering Physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has directed the Center for Human Performance and Risk Analysis (formerly the Center for Human Performance in Complex Systems) since 1995 and is a Past Chair of the UW Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering. She has over 40 years of experience in risk analysis for the nuclear power, chemical, petrochemical, and aerospace industries, as well as homeland security and critical-infrastructure protection.
Dr. Bier’s recent research has focused on applications of risk analysis and related methods to problems of security, critical infrastructure protection, and emergency management. Dr. Bier received the Women’s Achievement Award from the American Nuclear Society in 1993, and was elected a Fellow of the Society for Risk Analysis in 1996, from which she received the Distinguished Achievement Award in 2007. She is also a Past President of the Decision Analysis Society, and editor-in-chief of the society’s flagship journal, Decision Analysis.
Posted: January 25, 2021