Rob Schwartz
Rob Schwartz is an Associate Professor of Emergency Management and Homeland Security and the Director of the Center for Emergency Management and Homeland Security Research Policy at The University of Akron. Originally from Florida, he owned a construction and land development company for over 21 years and changed careers in the mid-1990s to become a professor. As a contractor, he was involved in damage assessment and mitigation. His research interests include emergency management issues from disasters (especially preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation), atmospheric hazards (hurricanes, blizzards, and tornadoes), and climatology. He has completed field observations following several hurricanes and other atmospheric hazards. Some of these include Hurricanes Charley, Ivan, Ike, and Sandy. Additionally, he has published in the Journal of Emergency Management, Journal of Climate, Quick Response Reports and various chapters in edited volumes.
He is on the editorial board for the Journal of Emergency Management, reviews articles for other journals such as Natural Hazards, Professional Geographer, and Climatic Change. Additionally, he is involved with FEMA’s Higher Education Project at the Emergency Management Institute, the Emergency Preparedness Committee for the Austen BioInnovation Institute Akron, disaster exercise planning, grant evaluations, and an instructor for CDLS (Core Disaster Life Support, BDLS (Basic Disaster Life Support), and ADLS (Advanced Disaster Life Support). Dr. Schwartz holds a B.A. in Sociology from the University of Florida, an M.S. in Geosciences from Mississippi State University, and a Ph.D. in Geography from Kent State University.