Pieter van Gelder

Prof. Dr. Ir. Pieter van Gelder is a leading authority in Safety Science at TU Delft, where he serves as a professor in the Safety and Security Science section and directs the TU Delft Safety and Security Institute. His extensive expertise encompasses the statistical modeling of high impact low probability (HILP) events, particularly in relation to infrastructure safety and natural hazards. Van Gelder has published numerous highly cited papers, contributing significantly to the field of risk management through mathematical models that inform decision-making processes regarding infrastructure resilience and safety protocols. He chairs the ESRA Technical Committee on Natural Hazards and is the Programme Director for MoSHE executive education, focusing on the management of safety, health, and environment. His PhD research, which examined reliability analyses of flood defenses, laid the groundwork for his ongoing work in developing innovative risk assessment methodologies. Through his leadership roles and research initiatives, Prof. Van Gelder continues to advance the understanding of safety science and its application in mitigating risks associated with natural disasters and infrastructure vulnerabilities.