People

We at GCRI recognize that our current team lacks demographic diversity. We wish to support demographic diversity in the field of global catastrophic risk, including within our own team. For more information, please see the GCRI Statement on the Demographic Diversity of the GCRI Team, January 2023.

 

Leadership Team

Seth Baum, Ph.D.
Executive Director
seth [at] gcrinstitute.org
🇺🇸 New York City

Seth Baum is Co-Founder and Executive Director of GCRI. Dr. Baum leads GCRI’s planning and management and contributes to GCRI’s research. He is also a Research Affiliate of the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk at the University of Cambridge and an Associate Editor of the journal Science and Engineering Ethics. He holds a Ph.D. in Geography from Pennsylvania State University (2012), an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Northeastern University (2006), and a B.S. in Optics and Applied Mathematics from the University of Rochester (2003). He completed a post-doctoral fellowship with the Center for Research on Environmental Decisions at Columbia University and was a Fellow of the Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity program of the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins University.

Senior Advisors

Gary Ackerman has served as a GCRI Senior Advisor since 2018. He advises GCRI in particular regarding organization development and the national and international security dimensions of global catastrophic risk. Dr. Ackerman is Associate Professor in the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity at the University at Albany, State University of New York, where he co-leads the Center for Advanced Red Teaming. He is also CEO of Nemesys Insights LLC, a strategic analysis and advisory company. He was previously a GCRI Associate and also Director of the Unconventional Weapons and Technology Division at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), based at the University of Maryland.

Seán Ó hÉigeartaigh has served as a GCRI Senior Advisor since 2018. He advises GCRI on organization development and the field of global catastrophic risk. Dr. Ó hÉigeartaigh is Programme Director of the AI: Futures and Responsibility Programme at the University of Cambridge. He previously worked as Executive Director of the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk at the University of Cambridge and as Senior Academic Manager of the Future of Humanity Institute at the University of Oxford. He also helped establish the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence.