Vicki M. Bier Professor and Chair Address/E-mail Program Affiliations Education Fields of Interest Publications Awards & Honors Summary

Contact Information

3270A Mechanical Engineering Building 1513 University Avenue Madison, WI 53706-1572

Tel: 608/262-2064 Fax: 608/262-8454 E-mail: bier@engr.wisc.edu

Program Affiliations

• Industrial and Systems Engineering
• Engineering Physics

• Center for Human Performance and Risk Analysis

Education

• PhD 1983, Operations Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Fields of Interest

• security in the supply chains for food and agricultural products
• critical infrastructure protection
• security
• technological hazards
• risk analysis
• decision analysis
• operations research

Publications

• Dighe, N., J. Zhuang, and V.M. Bier, "Secrecy in Defensive Allocations as a Strategy for Achieving More Cost-effective Attacker Deterrence," International Journal of Performability Engineering 5(1): 31-43, 2009, special issue on System Survivability and Defense against External Impacts.
• Bier, V. M., and M. N. Azaiez (editors), Game Theoretic Risk Analysis of Security Threats, International Series in Operations Research and Management Science, Springer, New York, 2009.
• Zhuang, J., and V.M. Bier, "Balancing Terrorism and Natural Disasters—Defensive Strategy with Endogenous Attacker Effort," Operations Research 55(5): 976-991, 2007.
• Bier, V. M., S. Oliveros, and L. Samuelson, "Choosing What to Protect: Strategic Defensive Allocation against an Unknown Attacker," Journal of Public Economic Theory 9(4): 563-587, 2007.
• Dighe, N., J. Zhuang, and V.M. Bier, "Secrecy in Defensive Allocations as a Strategy for Achieving More Cost-effective Attacker Deterrence," accepted for publication in International Journal of Performability Engineering, special issue on System Survivability and Defense against External Impacts.
• Bier, V. M., "Game-Theoretic and Reliability Methods in Counter-Terrorism and Security," Modern Statistical and Mathematical Methods in Reliability, Series on Quality, Reliability and Engineering Statistics, World Scientific Publishing Co., 2005.
• Carayon, P., S. Kraemer, and V. M. Bier, "Human Factors Issues in Computer and E-business Security." Handbook of Integrated Risk Management for E-Business: Measuring, Modeling and Managing Risk (A. Labbi, editor), J. Ross Publishing, 2005.
• Bier V. M., A. Nagaraj, and V. Abhichandani, Protection of Simple Series and Parallel Systems with Components of Different Values. Reliability Engineering and System Safety, 87(3): 315-323, 2005.
• Phimister, J. R., V. M. Bier, and H. C. Kunreuther (editors), Accident Precursor Analysis and Management: Reducing Technological Risk through Diligence, National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2004.
• Bier, V.M., "On the State of the Art: Risk Communication to the Public," Reliability Engineering and System Safety 71:139-150, 2001.
• Bier, V. M., Y. Y. Haimes, J. H. Lambert, N. C. Matalas, and R. Zimmerman, A Survey of Approaches for Assessing and Managing the Risk of Extremes. Risk Analysis 19(1): 83-94, 1999.
• Bier, V.M., "Challenges to the Acceptance of Probabilistic Risk Analysis," Risk Analysis 19:703-710, 1999.

Selected Awards, Honors and Societies

• Fellow, Society for Risk Analysis
• Best Presentation Award, Operations and Power Division, American Nuclear Society, 2001
• Outstanding Service Award, Society for Risk Analysis, 2000
• Outstanding Service Award, Society for Risk Analysis, 2000
• Women's Achievement Award, American Nuclear Society, 1993

Summary

Professor Bier is a risk analyst and decision analyst specializing in probabilistic risk analysis for homeland security and critical infrastructure protection. Her current research interests include the application of game theory to identify optimal resource allocation strategies for protecting critical infrastructure from intentional attacks. Other interests include: the use of accident "precursors" or near misses in probabilistic risk analysis; the use of expert opinion; and methods for effective risk communication, both to decision makers and to the general public.