SXU professor named regional director of The International Emergency Management Society

Jim Hagen to serve three-year term

Chicago (Aug. 20, 2008) Saint Xavier University Professor Jim Hagen, Ph.D., was recently elected regional director for North America of The International Emergency Management Society.

Hagen is the architect and director of the Disaster Preparedness and Management Certificate Program at SXU’s Graham School of Management. He was elected to serve a three-year term as regional director in June at TIEMS’ 2008 conference in Prague, Czech Republic. He previously served a one-year term as an interim board member. Their next meeting will be in Istanbul, Turkey in 2009.

TIEMS is a not-for-profit international network of people within emergency and disaster management working to use innovative methods and technologies to improve humanity’s ability to avoid and respond to natural and technological disasters. Members are involved with many large-scale events worldwide, such as security for the Beijing Olympics and the Indian Ocean tsunami.

“I’m proud to continue in a leadership role for this truly dynamic organization,” Hagen said. “I look forward to furthering disaster preparedness around the world.”

Hagen has many plans for his tenure, including creating a database of all TIEMS members in North America, creating a media strategy to increase awareness of TIEMS in business and academic communities and determining with which disaster relief organizations TIEMS should affiliate.

While in Prague, Hagen delivered an academic paper titled “Emergency Management Structure for Use in the Alaska Native (AN) Elderly Population,” which focused on: long-term care issues in the “nation within a nation” AN population; the AN culture’s need for emergency preparedness and disaster management; and culturally-specific characteristics that must be addressed to allow for protection of these elders. His paper was recently chosen for publication in a special issue of the International Journal of Emergency Management.

For more information about Saint Xavier University’s Disaster Preparedness and Management Certificate Program, please visit http://www.sxu.edu/gsm/grcert_dpm.asp or call (800) 462-9288.

-SXU-

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Contact: Rick Ducat
773-298-3325 or ducat@sxu.edu