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The Awards & Recognition Committee of the U.S. Council of the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM-USA) has selected Dr. Claire Knox as the IAEMUSA 2025 Emergency Management Educator Award recipient. The award will be presented at the 73rd IAEM Annual Conference & EMEX in Louisville, Kentucky.

2025 IAEM-USA Emergency Management Educator Award Recipient: Dr. Claire Knox

Dr. Claire Knox has demonstrated extraordinary dedication to improving emergency management
education and preparing the next generation of emergency management and public service
professionals.

Dr. Knox’s teaching exemplifies excellence. She combines rigorous academic content with real-world
application, integrating disaster simulations, case studies, and cross-disciplinary collaborations that
bring emergency management to life for her students. At the University of Central Florida (UCF), her
creation of the Master of Emergency and Crisis Management is widely regarded as one of the most
innovative programs in UCF’s public administration and emergency management curriculum and is
recognized nationwide.

Beyond her classroom achievements, Dr. Knox has made significant contributions to the scholarly and
professional communities. She has published extensively on emergency management policy, resilience,
and pedagogy, and has secured competitive funding to develop new curriculum modules that benefit
students and practitioners alike. Her leadership roles—including service with the International
Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM), the Florida Emergency Preparedness Association (FEPA),
and advisory work with regional and national emergency preparedness initiatives—underscore her
influence on the field.

Perhaps most importantly, Dr. Knox is a dedicated mentor. She has guided many undergraduate and graduate students toward successful careers in emergency management, homeland security, and
related public service fields.

The Emergency Management Educator Award recognizes educators who have demonstrated
outstanding achievement as educators of students within the field of emergency management. It
recognizes and rewards educators’ special skills and excellence throughout the United States. This
award recognizes general or special topics within the field of emergency management, such as
incident action planning, emergency operations center, and incident command.

For an official copy of this press release, please contact Dawn Shiley, CAE.

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