PEACOCK SELECTED FOR QUARANTELLI THEORY AWARD

Ronald W. Perry
President IRCD

I am pleased to share the news that Walter Gillis Peacock has been selected
as the 2009 recipient of the E.L. Quarantelli Award for Social Science
Disaster Theory. The award is given in recognition of “notable and
significant theoretical work to a social scientist studying disaster
phenomena”. The nomination process has two phases. The chair of the Award
Committee begins by soliciting nominations from the International Research
Committee on Disasters Executive Board and Officers, as well as the Award
Committee. In a second phase, senior scholars in our field are asked to
either make new nominations or support an existing nominee.I am pleased to
share that Walt received nominations from the United States,Europe, England,
and Canada.

Thomas E. Drabek, the 2006 Quarantelli Award recipient, chaired the Award
Committee. William Anderson, Patricia Bolton, Andrew Coghlan and James
Kendra were members of the Committee. As a last phase in selection the
committee examined the impact of Walt’s many contributions to our field and
enthusiastically confirmed his selection. In part, their citation pointed
out that:

Dr. Walter Gillis Peacock has made numerous significant contributions
to sociological theory related to disaster phenomena through numerous
articles in such journals as the International Journal of Mass
Emergencies and Disasters and highly regarded book chapters such as
“Cross-national and Comparative Disaster Research” in Methods of
Disaster Research (R. Stallings, ed.). He is best known for his co-
edited books documenting the differential impacts of Hurricane Andrew,
especially Hurricane Andrew: Ethnicity, Gender, and the Sociology of
Disasters and Hurricane Andrew and the Reshaping of Miami.

Later this year, Walt will select a venue for the formal presentation of his
award and his delivery of a paper dealing with the issue of theory in disaster
research. Walt is the fifth scholar selected for the E. L. Quarantelli Award,
joining Allen Barton, Russell R. Dynes, Thomas Drabek, and Gary Kreps.