Professor James Bohland has a PhD and an MA in Geography, both from the University of Georgia, and a BA in History from Western Michigan University. After 11 years at the University of Oklahoma, he joined the faculty in Urban Affairs and Planning at Virginia Tech in 1980, and he retired as a full professor in August 2018. Upon retirement, he was appointed emeritus professor for the School of Public and International Affairs. During his tenure at Tech, he chaired the Urban Affairs and Planning program. He was also the founding director of the School of Public and International Affairs; a senior fellow for Biomedical, Bioengineering and Health; director of the Institute for Community Health; interim provost; vice-president and executive director for the university’s National Capital Region Operations; and senior research leader for the Global Forum and Urban and Regional Resilience. His most recent publications include: “The Resilience Machine” (with Jennifer Lawrence and Simon Davoudi, eds.) and “The Disaster Resiliency Challenge: Transforming Theory to Action” (with Jack Harrald and Deborah Brosnan, eds.).