Andrew. C Rucks, Ph.D. is Professor in the Department of Health Care Organization and Policy at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, School of Public Health.  He is a graduate of the University of North Texas and has more than 30 years of academic and business experience.  He has authored two books, nine computer programming aids, and more than seventy-five articles and cases that have appeared in Public Health Reports, Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, Long Range Planning, Journal of Systems Management, Business Horizons, Maternal and Child Health Journal, International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters, and others.  Dr. Rucks works extensively with state and local health departments. His focus is on developing a regional pediatric disaster surge network for response to disasters affecting children, continuity of operations planning, strategic planning, budgeting, preparedness exercises and drills, and process optimization.  Dr. Rucks also serves as the Executive Director of the Survey Research Unit of the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Executive Director of Southeastern Regional Pediatric Disaster Surge Network.  His academic teaching focuses on finance, leadership, and management.