Richard Barke

Richard Barke is an Associate Professor in the School of Public Policy at the Georgia Institute of Technology's Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts. He serves as affiliated faculty in the Institute for Matter and Systems and maintains strong connections across Georgia Tech's six colleges through interdisciplinary teaching collaborations. His career spans academic leadership roles including chairing the creation of the Ivan Allen College and School of Public Policy, serving as school chair, and acting as Associate Dean of IAC.

His educational background includes a BS in Physics with minor in Geophysics from Georgia Tech and MA/PhD in Political Science from the University of Rochester. Barke previously taught at the University of Houston before returning to Georgia Tech.

Barke's research centers on the regulation of risk, the interplay between politics and science, and long-term policy-making across generations. His work examines how political timeframes interact with policy problem timelines, particularly regarding deep-time consequences. He investigates risk perception differences among scientific communities and the role of uncertainty in research ethics decisions. His scholarship bridges science policy, environmental governance, and intergenerational ethics.

Analysis of his recent publications reveals consistent focus on temporal dimensions of policy, with increasing attention to deep-time governance frameworks. His work connects risk analysis with institutional design, showing how policy models often fail to account for long-term consequences. The publications demonstrate interdisciplinary reach spanning political science, science studies, environmental policy, and research ethics.

• Georgia Tech's Outstanding Service Award
• IAC Faculty Legacy Award
• ANAK Faculty of the Year
• Georgia Tech Student Government Association Faculty of the Year Award (awarded twice)

Barke has secured significant research funding including seven National Science Foundation grants and sponsored research from US Departments of Commerce, Energy, and Army; the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation; and the Belgian National Fund for Scientific Research. His consulting work includes companies under federal regulation, the Houston Area Research Center, and the Carnegie Commission on Science, Technology, and Government. He has advised on congressional science budget processes and served as visiting scholar at the University of Ghent. His teaching portfolio spans political processes, intergenerational policy, ethics and risk, and regulatory policy, with extensive team-teaching across Georgia Tech's colleges.