Rutherford H. Platt is Professor Emeritus of Geography at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a Lifetime National Associate of The National Academies. He is the author of Disasters and Democracy: The Politics of Extreme Natural Events and Reclaiming American Cities: The Struggle for People, Place, and Nature Since 1900, among many other publications. Platt has served on various panels of the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council and has consulted with diverse federal agencies and nongovernmental organizations.