AMY R. PRITCHETT is a professor and head of the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the Pennsylvania State University. Previously, Dr. Pritchett was on the faculty at Georgia Tech in both Aerospace Engineering and in Industrial and Systems Engineering, and she also served via an IPA as the Director of NASA’s Aviation Safety Program. Her research focuses on the intersection of technology, expert human performance and aerospace operations, with a particular focus on designing to support safety. She has received the AIAA Lawrence Sperry Award, the RTCA William Jackson Award and, as a member of the Executive Committee of the Commercial Aviation Safety Team, the 2008 Collier Trophy.

She earned her Sc.D., S.M. and S.B. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is currently chairing the National Academies committee on emerging trends in aviation safety and is a fellow of both the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and the HFES. She also serves as a technical consultant on aircraft accident litigation.