BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs is thrilled to announce the establishment of the John. D. Graham Chair in Risk Analysis and Decision Science.
The chair, which is named in honor of former O’Neill Dean John Graham, is being created thanks to a generous gift Irene Graham, the matriarch of the Graham family.
“The Grahams have long been dedicated to the success of our students and faculty at the O’Neill School,” said current Dean Siân Mooney. “The establishment of the John D. Graham Chair in Risk Analysis and Management is simply the latest example of the Graham family leading for the greater good, and we’re incredibly appreciative of Irene’s generosity to establish this position.”
The chair is designed to advance research in the methods and applications of risk analysis and benefit-cost analysis, essential decision-science tools in the policy-making process. The methods are crucial for policy analysis of numerous issues in the U.S. and abroad, such as public education reform, minimum wage laws, energy and environmental regulations, health care policies, and restrictions on international trade.
The chair will support a faculty member at the O’Neill School in Bloomington or Indianapolis whose research and contributions advance the methods and applications of risk analysis and decision science.
Graham was the founder and creator of the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, and he served as an administrator for the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the U.S. Office of Management and Budget during the George W. Bush administration.
During Graham’s tenure as dean from 2008–19, the O’Neill School’s enrollment grew to more than 2,100 undergraduate students, nearly 600 master’s students, and nearly 80 doctoral students. Full-time faculty members, including laboratory scientists, social scientists, lawyers, and policy specialists, have almost doubled the number of research articles they produce annually since 2008.