The Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) awarded Dartmouth engineering professor Mark Borsuk the 2013 Chauncey Starr Distinguished Young Risk Analyst Award. This award honors "any member age 40 years or younger for outstanding achievement in science or public policy relating to risk analysis and exceptional promise for continued contributions to risk analysis." Professor Borsuk was recognized for his work in decision theory, uncertainty analysis, integrated systems modeling and management, and Bayesian statistics used to help quantify and address risk in areas including climate change, pollutant dispersion, and sustainability.

SRA is a multidisciplinary international society that provides a forum for all those interested in risk analysis. There are nearly 2,000 members plus additional members of its regional organizations. Members are from academia, government, industry, consulting, and non-governmental organizations. This diverse membership makes SRA a particularly relevant forum for the discussion of leading issues in risk analysis.

Professor Mark Borsuk

“I am honored to receive this award, especially considering the many accomplished academics and practitioners who were selected to receive it early in their careers," says Borsuk. "Risk analysis is a field essential to addressing today’s complex global problems, and I am proud to be an honored member of the professional society at the forefront of this field.”

Borsuk received his B.S.E. in civil engineering and operations research from Princeton University and both his M.S. in statistics and decision sciences and his Ph.D. in aquatic and atmospheric sciences from Duke University. His post-doctoral training was done in the Department of Systems Analysis, Integrated Assessment, and Modelling (SIAM) at the Swiss Federal Institute for Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG) and he is currently an Associate Professor of Engineering at Thayer School where he teaches modeling, decision analysis, environmental management, and statistics.

The award was presented on December 10th at the SRA Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland.