Renowned physician, immunologist and infectious disease researcher Dr. Anthony Fauci will participate in a fireside chat with Valerie Biden Owens, chair of the Biden Institute at the University of Delaware, on Friday, May 3, at 4 p.m. in Clayton Hall.

Fauci and Biden Owens will discuss decision-making in a crisis and other lessons that can inform next-generation leaders.

Public access to the conversation will be available via UD livestream. Registration for the livestream is requested prior to the event.

Fauci is a scientific leader and the former director of the National Institutes of Health’s Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. He has advised seven U.S. presidents on multiple health crises, such as HIV/AIDS, SARS, MERS, avian influenza, swine flu, Zika, Ebola and COVID-19, among other emergent diseases. Today, he serves as a Distinguished University Professor at Georgetown University.

Hosted by the Biden Institute, the fireside discussion is among the planned events recognizing the Disaster Research Center’s 60th anniversary.

"The Biden Institute is such a gem for the University of Delaware community,” said James Kendra, DRC director and professor in the Biden School of Public Policy and Administration. “We are so grateful to be able to partner with them on this event in honor of the Disaster Research Center's 60th anniversary and for their efforts to bring Dr. Fauci to engage with the UD and disaster research communities." 

Other planned events include a workshop that will bring together researchers and practitioners from the U.S. and around the world to consider the disaster challenges and the strategies necessary to address them.

"We are welcoming to the workshop participants with a broad range of interdisciplinary backgrounds — the social, policy, health and engineering sciences as well as the humanities,” said Tricia Wachtendorf, DRC director and UD professor of sociology. “The kinds of challenges Dr. Fauci has faced demand a holistic approach. We are excited to learn more about his experiences and use it as a springboard for discussions over the course of the weekend."

About the Disaster Research Center

The Disaster Research Center (DRC) is a world-renowned interdisciplinary research center, advancing the state of the art in disaster research and its scientifically guided practice for over sixty years. Founded at Ohio State University in 1963 as the first of its kind, it moved to the University of Delaware in 1985. DRC continues its tradition of educating the next generation of disaster science scholars and practitioners, as well as impacting on-the-ground disaster-related strategies.  

About the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration

Established in 1961 and named in 2018 for the University of Delaware’s most distinguished alumnus, the 46th President of the United States, the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration prepares students with the knowledge and skills necessary to engage in research and public service to improve the quality of life in communities around the world. Biden School faculty, staff, students and alumni create and use interdisciplinary, nonpartisan research, and empirically based analysis to inform effective decision-making and policy and to improve leadership and administration. The Biden School partners with organizations from all sectors to discover innovative and equitable solutions to the critical challenges of our time. 

About the Biden Institute

The Biden Institute, established at the University of Delaware’s Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration in March of 2017, is a world-class intellectual center and destination for scholars, activists, policymakers and national leaders. The mission at the Biden Institute is to bring together the sharpest minds and the most powerful voices to address our nation’s toughest problems, while educating and engaging the next generation of leaders.