Daniel Aldrich

Daniel P. Aldrich is Dean's Professor of Resilience and Director of the Resilience Studies Program at Northeastern University's College of Social Sciences and Humanities. He also serves as Co-Director of the Global Resilience Institute and holds appointments in the Department of Political Science and the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs.

Dr. Aldrich's research focuses on post-disaster recovery with emphasis on social capital's role in community resilience. His work examines civil society and state interactions, controversial facilities siting, and countering violent extremism through extensive fieldwork in Japan, India, and Africa. His methodology combines quantitative analysis with deep qualitative investigation of community networks during crisis situations.

His recent publications reveal consistent themes across diverse disaster contexts: the critical importance of social infrastructure over physical infrastructure, the complex relationship between social capital and recovery outcomes, and institutional barriers to effective disaster response. His work spans natural disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis as well as human-made crises including nuclear accidents and terrorism.

• TIER 1 NEU Award, 2019-2020
• Fulbright Specialist Award, 2018-2021
• NSF Engineering Research Center for Socio-Physical Extreme Event Resilience, 2018
• Pasona Alumnus of the Year, 2018
• Global Resilience Institute Seed Grant, 2017

Dr. Aldrich has secured significant research funding from the Fulbright Foundation, National Science Foundation, Abe Foundation, and Japan Foundation. He has advised numerous students and established the Disasters and Crises Working Group that connects academic research with practical emergency management. His leadership extends to serving as Chair of the Elinor Ostrom Award committee and as a founding member of the NSF Growing Convergence Research College of Reviewers.

Through his Resilience Studies Program, Dr. Aldrich has created interdisciplinary training that prepares students to analyze and improve community resilience across multiple threat scenarios. His work bridges academic research and real-world application through active engagement with policymakers, emergency management agencies, and community organizations worldwide.