Professor Denis Fischbacher-Smith

Research Professor of Risk and Resilience, University of Glasgow

Professor Denis Fischbacher-Smith is Research Professor of Risk and Resilience at the University of Glasgow where he was also Deputy Head of the Business School between 2012-2021. He is a graduate of the Universities of Manchester, Glasgow, St Andrews, Glasgow Caledonian, Derby, the CNAA, and the Open University. He holds Batchelor’s degrees in Geography/Environmental Science (BEd) (Manchester) and Science (BSc) (Open), Masters degrees in Pollution Control (MSc), Applied Psychology (MSc), Public Health (MPH) (Manchester) Psychology in Forensic Settings (MSc) (GCU), Management (MBA) (CNAA), Ergonomics (MSc) (Derby), Terrorism Studies (MLitt) (St Andrews) and War Studies (MLitt) (Glasgow). He holds a DLitt in Crisis Management (Glasgow) and a PhD in Science and Technology Policy (Manchester). 

In terms of professional affiliations, he is a Chartered Security Professional (CSyP), a Chartered Psychologist (CPsychol), a Chartered Ergonomist & Human Factors Specialist (C.ErgHF), a Chartered  Fellow of the Institute of Personnel and Development (FCIPD), and a Chartered Manager (CMgr). In addition, he is a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute (CCMI), a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS), a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (PFHEA), a Fellow of the British Academy of Management, and a Fellow of the Emergency Planning Society.  

He has held professorial appointments at the Liverpool John Moores, Durham, Sheffield, and Liverpool Universities prior to his appointment at Glasgow. He has also been a visiting professor at the Universities of Kobe (Japan), Innsbruck (Austria), San Diego State (USA), Edge Hill (UK) and at the Crichton Institute. He was the Director of Liverpool Business School (LJMU) and the founding director of the University of Liverpool Management School.

Outside of his academic activities, Professor Fischbacher-Smith has been a director of HARM Consulting and CSC Ltd, as well as a non-executive director of JMU Services, Mersey Regional Ambulance Service, St Helens RLFC and Aintree University Hospital NHS Trust. He was seconded to Scottish Government and Police Scotland for work around resilience and counter-terrorism and he also worked extensively with Sefton Borough Council on work relating to organisational design and child protection.  In terms of policy development, he was a member of the Ministerial Advisory Committee that produced “An Organisation with a Memory” for the Department of Health (England and Wales) in 2000 and an expert advisor to the Grenfell Inquiry in 2020.