Professor and Executive Director of the Center for Risk Analysis Informed Decision Engineering
University of Michigan
Dr. James P. Bagian is the Executive Director, Center for Risk Analysis Informed Decision Engineering and is a professor in the Departments of Industrial and Operations Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering and Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Michigan. He has extensive experience in the fields of human factors, aerospace operations, and patient safety. Previously he served as the first and founding director of the Veterans Administration’s (VA) National Center for Patient Safety and as the VA’s first Chief Patient Safety Officer where he developed numerous patient safety related tools and programs that were adopted nationally and internationally. He has also been elected to membership in both the National Academy of Engineering and Medicine.
A NASA astronaut for over 15 years, he is a veteran of two Space Shuttle missions including as the lead mission specialist for the first dedicated Life Sciences Spacelab mission. Following the 1986 Challenger space-shuttle mishap he served as an investigator and dove and supervised the capsule and crew recovery from the ocean floor. He also served as the Chief Flight Surgeon and Medical Consultant for the Space Shuttle Columbia Accident Investigation Board in 2003.
Bagian served over 20 years in the Air Force in roles including Special Consultant to Air Combat Command for Combat Search and Rescue, President of the USAF Pararescue Medical Operations Advisory Board, and as a charter member of the DOD Committee on Tactical Combat Casualty Care whose work resulted in dramatic improvement in outcomes in the treatment of warfighters who have been wounded and in substantial impact nationally and internationally on civilian pre-hospital trauma care.
Tuesday, April 29, 2025
3:00 PM – 4:00 PM CT
Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose