Baruch Fischhoff, Ph.D.

Professor of Public Policy and Strategy, and Expert on Large-Scale Risk Analysis

"The Alliance is creating the vital links between the world of research and the worlds of education and research, by stimulating needed studies and making them accessible to those who need them."

Affiliations:

  • Howard Heinz University Professor in both the Department of Engineering and Public Policy, and the Institute for Politics and Strategy at Carnegie Mellon University
  • National Academy of Sciences: Member
  • National Academy of Medicine: Member
  • American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS): Fellow
  • American Psychological Association (APA): Fellow
  • Association for Psychological Science: Fellow
  • Society of Experimental Psychologists: Fellow
  • Society for Risk Analysis: Fellow

Awards:

  • APA Award for Distinguished Service to Psychology
  • Andrew Carnegie Fellowship
  • Carnegie Mellon’s Ryan Award for Teaching
  • College of Engineering Outstanding Mentor
  • Society of Risk Analysis Distinguished Achievement

Publications:

  • Acceptable Risk
  • A Two-State Solution in the Middle East: Prospects and Possibilities
  • Elicitation of Preferences
  • Risk Communication: A Mental Models Approach
  • Intelligence Analysis: Behavioral and Social Science Foundations
  • Risk: A Very Short Introduction
  • Communicating Risks and Benefits: An Evidence-Based Guide
  • Judgment and Decision Making
  • Risk Analysis and Human Behavior
  • The Science of Science Communication
  • Counting Civilian Casualties

Education:

  • The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel, Ph.D., Psychology
  • The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel, Master’s Degree, Psychology
  • Wayne State University, Bachelor’s Degree, Mathematics and Psychology
  • Lund University, Honorary Doctorate

In an illustrious career examining the principles of decision-making and risk analysis, Dr. Baruch Fischhoff has collaborated with various standout thought partners—including Dr. Paul Slovic and Dr. Ralph L. Keeney—to push the field forward.

Along with Slovic and Dr. Sarah Lichtenstein, Baruch founded Decision Research in 1976, an institute that analyzes decision-making during risk scenarios. Baruch has often been at the forefront of such research. He was founding chair of the Food and Drug Administration Risk Communication Advisory Committee. He chaired the National Research Council Committee on Behavioral and Social Science Research to Better Intelligence Analysis for National Security. He also co-chaired the National Research Council Committee on Future Research Goals and Directions for Foundational Science in Cybersecurity.

He is a former member of the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Advisory Committee, the World Federation of Scientists Permanent Monitoring Panel on Motivations for Terrorism, and the Environmental Protection Agency Science Advisory Board.

Previously, Baruch was the President of the Society for Judgment and Decision Making, as well as the Society for Risk Analysis.