The Biden Institute, established at the University of Delaware’s Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration in March of 2017, is a world-class intellectual center and destination for scholars, activists, policymakers, and national leaders. The mission of the Biden Institute is to bring together the sharpest minds and the most powerful voices to address our nation’s toughest problems while educating and engaging the next generation of leaders. For more than a half-century, the University of Delaware’s Disaster Research Center has been at the forefront of conducting innovative research that improves crisis management and decision-making.

In honor of the 60th anniversary of the Disaster Research Center and as part of its celebratory workshop, DRC partnered with the Biden Institute to host Dr. Anthony Fauci. Formerly the director of the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and currently a Distinguished University Professor at Georgetown University, Dr. Fauci is a renowned physician, immunologist and infectious disease researcher, and scientific leader. He has advised seven U.S. Presidents on multiple health crises such as HIV/AIDS, SARS, MERS, avian influenza, swine flu, Zika, Ebola and COVID-19, among emergent diseases. At the workshop, Dr. Fauci was joined by Biden Institute Chair Valerie Biden Owens in a fireside chat about decision-making during crises as well as lessons for the next generation of leaders.

Over 400 attendees joined us in person at the workshop for this event, with over 600 additional guests registering for the online livestream.