DENNIS KOUBA

Dennis Kouba is the former Director of Outreach and Development for the Public Entity Risk Institute (PERI). He is now managing PERI Virtual Symposium Programs and communications services through his own firm, DMK Communications, located in Portland, Maine. Dennis helped establish PERI operations and led the creation of its Web services and Symposium Programs. He also held positions with the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) and International City/County Management Association (ICMA).

JOHN R. HARRALD, Ph.D.

Dr. John Harrald is the Director of The George Washington University Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management and a Professor of Engineering Management in the GWU School of Engineering and Applied Science where he coordinates graduate programs in crisis, emergency and risk management and homeland security emergency preparedness and response. He is a member of the National Academy of Science Disasters Roundtable Advisory Committee. He is a founding member, Director, and Immediate Past President of The International Emergency Management Society (TIEMS) and is a former Director of the Disaster Recovery Institute (DRI). He is Executive Editor of the electronic Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and is Associate Editor of the International Journal of Emergency Management.

Dr. Harrald has been actively engaged in the fields of emergency, consequence and crisis management and maritime safety and port security and as a researcher in his academic career and as a practitioner during his 22 year career as a U.S. Coast Guard officer, retiring in the grade of Captain. He writes, publishes, and consults in the fields of crisis management, emergency management, risk and vulnerability analysis, and transportation safety and security.

Dr. Harrald received his B.S. in Engineering from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, a M.A.L.S. from Wesleyan University, a M.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he was an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow, and an MBA and Ph.D. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.