Claire Rubin (grey t-shirt, center) at a Workshop BBQ in 2003. Photo courtesy Lori Peek.
Back in 1975, Claire B. Rubin—then a budding emergency management scholar-practitioner—attended the very first Natural Hazards Research and Applications Workshop. She's attended almost every year since, and even delivered the keynote address at the 40th annual Workshop.
“I see the annual Workshop as a focal point,” Rubin said in her address. “It has been the place where knowledge has been imparted, contacts have been made, friendships have been formed, and projects have been created.”
Claire Rubin, 2025
On February 7, 2025, Claire turned 85 years old. In honor of her birthday, her friends and family members made contributions to the Natural Hazards Center’s general fund. These generous gifts will cover registration fees and meal expenses for the 10 student volunteers. This program brings graduate students from across the United States to the Workshop to learn, network, and advance their careers as they also support Workshop participants.
Center Director Lori Peek, who met Claire 25 years ago at the Workshop, said: “It is fitting that Claire’s family would honor her in this way, as she has worked for decades to help uplift the next generation of students and emergency management practitioners.”
Claire’s accomplishments as a social scientist and emergency management consultant have shaped the field of hazards and disaster studies. For three decades at her consulting firm, Claire B. Rubin & Associates, she offered expertise to public, private, and nonprofit sector clients. For scholars, she has created countless new resources and opportunities. For example, during her tenure at The George Washington University’s Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management, she co-founded and edited The Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and she's authored or edited more than a hundred articles and six books, including the forthcoming 2nd edition of U.S. Emergency Management in the 21st Century From Disaster to Catastrophe, out in March 2025. Now, in her semi-retirement, Claire continues to maintain her long-running blog on disaster recovery, Recovery Diva.
Claire’s dedication, good humor, and care for others have enriched our hazards and disaster field for decades. The Natural Hazards Center is deeply grateful to Claire and her loved ones for their commitment to pay it forward to the next generation of researchers and emergency management practitioners. We are excited to see how their contribution will kickstart new careers that will hopefully blossom into ones as illustrious and meaningful as Claire Rubin’s.
Claire talks with longtime NHC director Dennis Mileti. Photo courtesy of Lori Peek.
The success of the Natural Hazards Center relies on the ongoing support and engagement of the entire hazards and disasters community. Your donations support scholars at the annual Natural Hazards Workshop and help to ensure that the Center can maintain stable, sustainable funding to continue our work in the future. You can make a gift to support Center activities via our giving page.