Dr. Alex Altshuler (PhD, MSW, MA) is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Social Work, University of Haifa. A prominent national and international scholar and civil servant in the areas of crisis leadership and emergency management, he focuses on psychosocial, organizational, strategic, and international aspects of emergency preparedness and disaster risk reduction, among other topics.

Dr. Altshuler currently also serves as the Director of Social Sciences and Humanities at Israel’s Ministry of Science and Technology and has served as the Founding Chair of the Scientific Steering Committee of the National Knowledge and Research Center in Emergency Readiness. Alex joined the joined the Harvard University Program on Crisis Leadership as a Fulbright Post-Doctoral Fellow in August 2014; he has subsequently served as a Senior Fellow since September 2017. He also serves as the National Expert and a member of the UN advisory board (Science and Technology Advisory Group) in disaster risk reduction and a member of the International Science Council-UNDRR Expert Review Group (ERG) for the Development of a new Global Disaster Risk Reduction Research Agenda towards 2030 and beyond. In addition, he has volunteered with a number of organizations throughout his career. Among others, he has volunteered since 1998 and serves as a Board Member of SELAH – The Israel Crisis Management Center. From 2016-2018 Alex served as the Founding Director of Research and Development for the Israel National Emergency Management Authority.

Dr. Altshuler has been awarded over 20 academic prizes and fellowships, presented in over 50 academic conferences, and published over 40 academic papers.