Biography of Dr. Jacqueline (Jack) Meszaros

(Term expires December 20, 2027)

Jacqueline (“Jack”) Meszaros is the former Science and Technology Advisor for Natural Hazards, Disasters, and Resilience at the National Science Foundation (NSF), where she coordinated disaster-relevant research activities. She also represented NSF on the Federal interagency bodies that support disaster-relevant research, including the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program, the National Windstorm Impacts Reduction Program, and the Interagency Coordinating Committee on Landslide Hazards.

From 2015-2019, Jack served in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy as the Senior Policy Advisor and Assistant Director for Natural Hazards Resilience. In this capacity she acted as authoritative consultant to the President’s Science Advisor and others in the Executive Office of the President, including National Security Council and Office of Management and Budget. She also led multiple National Science and Technology Council subcommittees responsible for science policies to advance national resilience, including those relevant to natural hazards, space weather, earth observations, and critical infrastructure.

Before her Federal service, Jack was a professor at the University of Washington, Bothell, and Temple University, with research focused on decisions about ambiguous and low-probability risks, including earthquakes, accidents, and vaccines. Her work has appeared in the Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, and Medical Decision Making, among others.  

Jack earned her Ph.D. and M.S. at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Her bachelor’s degree is also from Penn.