Former Director, NOAA’s Pacific Tsunami Warning Center
Dr. Eddie Bernard is a subject matter expert and consultant on issues dealing with tsunami warning systems, tsunami mitigation and education programs, and tsunami research. Dr. Bernard also teaches tsunami awareness through the University of Hawaii’s National Disaster Preparedness Training Center (see 10 minute training video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Nu9tVaNWC4 ).
Dr. Bernard has published over 100 scientific papers and has served as editor for four tsunami books. He served as Director of NOAA’s Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu for 3 years. Following the 1993 Sea of Japan tsunami, he led the U.S. team that surveyed the damage caused by the tsunami. He served as founding Chairman of the National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program, a joint Federal/State effort.
Dr. Bernard has been featured in over 20 television specials on tsunamis and interviews on national and international news networks. Dr. Bernard twice received the Department of Commerce Gold Medal, the Presidential Meritorious Rank Award three times- in 1993 from William J. Clinton, in 2002 from George W. Bush and in 2010 from Barack Obama. In 2008, Dr. Bernard was awarded the prestigious Service to America Medal, sponsored by the Partnership for Public Service, for his leadership in creating a tsunami forecasting capability. Visit
https://servicetoamericamedals.org/honorees/view_profile.php?profile=186 for video on the award.
Dr. Bernard was selected by the National Academy of Sciences to give the 2012 Roger Revelle Lecture on “Tsunami: Are We Underestimating the Risks?”. This lecture can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuDVY-kF78U. In 2016, Dr. Bernard received the inaugural Hamaguchi Award for Enhancement of Tsunami Resilience presented by Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism.