Edward Laatsch is Director of the Planning, Safety and Building Science Division that leads FEMAā€™s responsibilities under the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP); National Wind Hazard Impact Reduction Program (NWHIRP); National Dam Safety and Security Program; National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program (NTHM); and high-wind, flood, earthquake, tornado, wildfire and other natural hazard mitigation activities. The division supports disaster-resistant building codes and standards, technical services, and post-disaster forensic engineering activities as well as technical SME support for the agency and FEMAā€™s mitigation planning activity.
Other activities within this division include development of all-hazards technical and engineering guidance documents, training, and tools for predictive risk analytics. Previously, Laatsch spent 10 years as Chief of the Building Science Branch within FEMAā€™s Mitigation Directorate; five years as Research Administrator and Loss Control Superintendent with State Farm Insurance; seven years with the National Association of Home Builders and NAHB Research Center; and five years as a consulting engineer including work with a specialty munitions facilities design firm.
Altogether, Laatsch has more than 35 years of experience in the building design and building sciences area. He holds an M.S. in Architecture from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Michigan, as well as being a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Virginia.