Professor Ragnar Löfstedt
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Contact Details
Department of Geography
and
King's Centre for Risk Management
King's College London
Strand
London WC2R 2LS
Tel: +44 (0)20 7848 1404
Email: ragnar.lofstedt@kcl.ac.uk
and
King's Centre for Risk Management
King's College London
Strand
London WC2R 2LS
Tel: +44 (0)20 7848 1404
Email: ragnar.lofstedt@kcl.ac.uk
Biography
Ragnar E. Löfstedt is Professor of Risk Management and the Director of King’s Centre for Risk Management, King’s College London, UK where he teaches and conducts research on risk communication and management.
Previously he was a Reader in Social Geography at the University of Surrey, UK. He is also an adjunct Professor at the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, Harvard School of Public Health where he co-directs the Risk Communication Challenge Course for continuing education professionals. He is Adjunct Professor at the Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University and a Visiting Professor at the Centre for Public Sector Research, Gothenburg University, Sweden.
Dr Löfstedt earned his BA and MA degrees at University of California Los Angeles (1988) and Clark University (1991), respectively, before completing his PhD in geography at Clark University (1993). After a post-doctorate position at the Risk, Society and Policy Group at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) (Laxenburg, Austria), he joined the University of Surrey as a lecturer in social geography before coming to Kings in 2002.
He has conducted research in risk communication and management in such areas as renewable energy policy, transboundary environmental issues (acid rain and nuclear power), telecommunications, biosafety, and the siting of building of incinerators, nuclear waste installations and railways. He is a believer in the building of public trust in regulators and industry via proactive risk communication and argues that high regulatory/industry trust is equivalent to low public perceived risk.
Dr Löfstedt is the author/editor of ten books and over 90 peer reviewed articles/book chapters. He is the editor-in-chief for Journal of Risk Research and editor of the Risk in Society book series from Earthscan. He also serves on the editorial boards of International Journal of Risk Assessment and Management, Journal of Health Communication, Risk Analysis and Risk Management.
He is on the Academic Advisory Board of the UK National Patient Safety Agency, a member of the European Food Safety Authority’s Advisory Group on Risk Communications and the Swiss National Science Foundation’s expert group on non-ionizing radiation. He is a senior advisor to the City of Vienna on risk communication and nuclear power and to the City of Gothenburg on climate change.
His work has been funded by the European Science Foundation, European Union, the National Science Foundation, the Swedish Research Council, UK ESRC, and UK EPSRC and an array of private institutions. He has given invited lectures on risk communication and management issues at Cambridge, Harvard Business School, Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, Harvard Law School, Jet Propulsion Laboratories-Cal Tech, MIT, NASA Head Quarters, Oxford, Princeton, and Yale School of Management. He has consulted widely for industry and regulators including Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA), NASA, National Grid plc, Shell Oil, the State of Baden Wurttemberg (Germany), Swedish Chemical Industry Association, the Swedish Chemical Inspectorate, and Vattenfall AB.
In December 2000 Ragnar Löfstedt was awarded (as the first non American) the Chauncey Starr Award for exceptional contributions to the field of risk analysis for someone under the age of 40 by the Society for Risk Analysis and in 2005 he was elected a Fellow of the Society for Risk Analysis (SRA). In 2006 he was presented with the Outstanding Service Award from the SRA.
Previously he was a Reader in Social Geography at the University of Surrey, UK. He is also an adjunct Professor at the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, Harvard School of Public Health where he co-directs the Risk Communication Challenge Course for continuing education professionals. He is Adjunct Professor at the Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University and a Visiting Professor at the Centre for Public Sector Research, Gothenburg University, Sweden.
Dr Löfstedt earned his BA and MA degrees at University of California Los Angeles (1988) and Clark University (1991), respectively, before completing his PhD in geography at Clark University (1993). After a post-doctorate position at the Risk, Society and Policy Group at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) (Laxenburg, Austria), he joined the University of Surrey as a lecturer in social geography before coming to Kings in 2002.
He has conducted research in risk communication and management in such areas as renewable energy policy, transboundary environmental issues (acid rain and nuclear power), telecommunications, biosafety, and the siting of building of incinerators, nuclear waste installations and railways. He is a believer in the building of public trust in regulators and industry via proactive risk communication and argues that high regulatory/industry trust is equivalent to low public perceived risk.
Dr Löfstedt is the author/editor of ten books and over 90 peer reviewed articles/book chapters. He is the editor-in-chief for Journal of Risk Research and editor of the Risk in Society book series from Earthscan. He also serves on the editorial boards of International Journal of Risk Assessment and Management, Journal of Health Communication, Risk Analysis and Risk Management.
He is on the Academic Advisory Board of the UK National Patient Safety Agency, a member of the European Food Safety Authority’s Advisory Group on Risk Communications and the Swiss National Science Foundation’s expert group on non-ionizing radiation. He is a senior advisor to the City of Vienna on risk communication and nuclear power and to the City of Gothenburg on climate change.
His work has been funded by the European Science Foundation, European Union, the National Science Foundation, the Swedish Research Council, UK ESRC, and UK EPSRC and an array of private institutions. He has given invited lectures on risk communication and management issues at Cambridge, Harvard Business School, Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, Harvard Law School, Jet Propulsion Laboratories-Cal Tech, MIT, NASA Head Quarters, Oxford, Princeton, and Yale School of Management. He has consulted widely for industry and regulators including Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA), NASA, National Grid plc, Shell Oil, the State of Baden Wurttemberg (Germany), Swedish Chemical Industry Association, the Swedish Chemical Inspectorate, and Vattenfall AB.
In December 2000 Ragnar Löfstedt was awarded (as the first non American) the Chauncey Starr Award for exceptional contributions to the field of risk analysis for someone under the age of 40 by the Society for Risk Analysis and in 2005 he was elected a Fellow of the Society for Risk Analysis (SRA). In 2006 he was presented with the Outstanding Service Award from the SRA.
