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Interdisciplinary Academic Center

DRLA is an interdisciplinary academic center with participating faculty from Tulane’s School of Architecture, A.B. Freeman School of Business, School of Law, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and School of Social Work.

Disaster Resilience Leadership Studies Academic Program

The DRLA will provide training in Disaster Resilience Leadership Sciences/Studies through an interdisciplinary program taught by expert Tulane University faculty from the Payson Center for International Development, the Law School, the School of Social Work as well as the School of Architecture, the A.B. Freeman School of Business, the School of Liberal Arts, the School of Science and Engineering, the School of Medicine and the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. The Academy faculty has identified four primary “pillars” of study relevant to Disaster Resilience Leadership:

1. Psychosocial/Behavioral Leadership Sciences: understanding human behavior of survivors, workers, and leaders in various contexts and how best to facilitate thriving and human development
2. Disaster Operations Policy & Management: understanding
   evidence-based best practices for disaster operations and all aspects of disaster management
3. Leadership Analysis: understanding the most sophisticated
   and evidence-based methods of leadership and decision analyses, drawing on a new and growing field of decision analysis and network analysis
4. Environmental and Hazards Sciences: understanding
   the most effective methods of measuring the impact of and managing disaster-related consequences including all types of hazards for unwanted environmental disruptions

These areas of study underpin all of the academic programs offered by the DRLA as illustrated below:

DRLA Leadership

Primary staff of the Academy: Ky Luu, J.D., serves as the Executive Director of the Academy. As former Director of the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) and Vice President of International Medical Corps, he is an expert in the field of disaster resilience adn humanitarian assistance. Eamon Kelly, Ph.D, is President Emeritus of Tulane University and a renowned leadership management specialist. Nancy Mock, Dr. P.H., is faculty at the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine where she specializes in public health, food security. She is an accomplished humanitarian response scholar. Charles Figley, Ph.D, is the Paul Henry Kurzweg Chair in Disaster Mental Health and director of the Tulane Traumatology Institute. Marc Roy, J.D., LL.M. is a Research Professor at the Tulane School of Law and Adjunct Professor in the School of Public Health and as a former Chief of Staff for FEMA's Louisiana operations following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita brings recovery management and infrastructure development experience to the Academy.  John McLachlan, Ph.D is part of the Core Faculty for the Disaster Resilience Leadership Academy. Dr. McLachlan is Celia Scott and Albert J. Weatherhead Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies, Professor, Departments of Pharmacology and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Director, Tulane/Xavier Center for Bioenvironmental Research Tulane University.

Strategic Framework