rthornton | Natural Hazards Research Australia

About

Dr Richard Thornton was the Chief Executive Officer of Natural Hazards Research Australia and retired in July 2022. He was responsible to the Board for the day-to-day management of the Centre. He had overall responsibility for direction and performance, as well as being the public face of the centre.

Richard is a highly experienced research management executive with over 20 years in the field, previously with the Bushfire CRC and Telstra. He led the development of the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC as CEO following the Prime Ministerial announcement in February 2013. Prior to that Richard was Deputy CEO and Research Director of the Bushfire CRC, a role he held since 2004.

Richard has a physics background and has worked in several science fields including nuclear and semiconductor physics, fluid mechanics, IT and telecommunications engineering, and online services, primarily in the private sector.

Until January 2016 Richard was a member of the Board of the International Association of Wildland Fire and the Chair of the Editorial Advisory Committee of the International Journal of Wildland Fire. Richard is currently a Board Member of the CRC Association. He is a sought after speaker at conferences, events and in the media.