Ray Shirkhodai is responsible for PDC’s strategic development, market and partnership expansion, and all aspects of the enterprise operation. Serving in information management and senior leadership roles since 1991, Ray first joined PDC in 2002 as the Chief Information Officer before his selection for Executive Director in 2007. During his tenure at PDC, Ray architected PDC’s flagship DisasterAWARE® risk intelligence platform and mobile applications, developed and oversaw strategies for PDC’s expansion into the global hazard and risk reduction markets, and increased the Center’s competitive project revenues, augmenting PDC’s base research and operating budgets. Ray has led the Center’s support of major international disaster relief operations. He has served as a chief technology advisor to regional and national disaster management offices around the world. Ray has written for numerous United Nations publications on analytical software design for risk reduction. He has been an invited keynote speaker, lecturer and participant at many international events focused on technologies for risk reduction and resilience. Ray is on the advisory board of the University of Hawaii Maui College Applied Business and Information Technology (ABIT) program. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from George Mason University followed by graduate studies in Artificial Intelligence at George Mason University.
Current role