Federal Grant Will Enable U of M to Increase Disaster Resistance
For release: September 30, 2004
For press information, contact Gabrielle Maxey

The University of Memphis and the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency have been awarded a $100,000 Disaster Resistant University (DRU) grant through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The Memphis DRU award will be used to assess and prioritize risks and mitigation strategies for the University and surrounding community.

"This project will greatly increase our understanding of the vulnerability of the diverse University community to multiple hazards," said Dr. Arch Johnston, director of the University's Center for Earthquake Research and Information (CERI) and primary coordinator of local DRU activities. "We hope it will also serve as a springboard for future funds to help pay for necessary structural improvements and mitigation strategies."

DRU is a matching-grant program begun by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help universities improve life safety and continuity of operations in the event of a natural disaster. Johnston has been working to secure DRU status for the University since the conception of the federal program in 1998.

A second phase of the project provides funding on a competitive basis for the implementation of phase 1 recommendations. The first 6 DRU participants were each awarded $100,000 in 2000; they include the University of California/Berkeley, Tulane University, the University of Alaska/Fairbanks, the University of Miami, the University of North Carolina/Wilmington, and the University of Washington/Seattle.

The University of Miami was awarded $2.7 million in April of 2004 to begin strengthening facilities and infrastructure identified by the university as "risky" in the first phase of the program. "This important funding will help protect nearly $120 million in University assets from hurricane and storm damage," said University of Miami President Donna E. Shalala.

The University of Memphis DRU project is a multi-disciplinary effort involving faculty and staff members from the departments of earth science, civil engineering, and business and economics, as well as the Vice Provost of Research Andrew Meyers, Vice President of Business and Finance Charles Lee, and the University Crisis Management Team. Project oversight is provided by state and local emergency management officials, private sector contingency planners, and the Central United State Earthquake Consortium, a multi-state planning agency for large-scale disasters.

For more information, contact Gary Patterson, CERI Information Services Director, by phone at 901-678-5264 or via email at glpttrsn@memphis.edu.

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