Paul Slovic is a professor of psychology at the University of Oregon and a founder and President of Decision Research. He holds a BA from Stanford University (1959) and an MA (1962) and PhD (1964) from the University of Michigan. He studies human judgment, decision making, and the psychology of risk. His most recent work examines “psychic numbing” and the failure to respond to mass human tragedies. He and his colleagues worldwide have developed methods to describe risk perceptions and measure their impacts on individuals, industry and society. He publishes extensively and serves as a consultant to industry and government. His most recent books include The Perception of Risk (2000), The Social Amplification of Risk (2003), The Construction of Preference (2006) and The Feeling of Risk (2010).

Dr. Slovic is a past President of the Society for Risk Analysis and in 1991 received its Distinguished Contribution Award. In 1993 he received the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the American Psychological Association and in 1995 the Outstanding Contribution to Science Award from the Oregon Academy of Science. He has received honorary doctorates from the Stockholm School of Economics (1996) and the University of East Anglia (2005).