R.F. Shangraw, Jr.

Biography

Dr. R. F. "Rick" Shangraw, Jr. is the Chief Executive Officer of the ASU Foundation for a New American University. He previously served as Senior Vice President for the Office of Knowledge Enterprise Development (OKED) at Arizona State University. Shangraw also served as Director of the Global Institute of Sustainability (GIOS). As Senior Vice President, Shangraw oversaw ASU's growing annual $350 million research portfolio which ranked as one of the top 20 research institutions in the country without a medical school. ASU's major interdisciplinary research institutes and initiatives reported to Shangraw including the Biodesign Institute, Flexible Display Center, LightWorks, Complex Adaptive Systems Initiative and Decision Theater. As Director of GIOS, Shangraw oversaw the Institute's research, education, and problem-solving initiatives, with a special focus on urban environments.

Shangraw's research interests include policy informatics, large-scale project risk and uncertainty, research policy, and managerial decision-making. He previously served as ASU's Associate Vice President for Strategic Research and as the founding Executive Director of ASU's Decision Theatre, a state-of-the-art center using visualization, simulation and modeling, and collaboration tools to address complex public policy issues.

Prior to joining ASU, Shangraw was the founder and CEO of Project Performance Corporation (PPC), a research and technology consulting firm specializing in environmental, energy, and information management issues. During his tenure, PPC received the "Inc. 500 Award" for being one of the fastest-growing, privately held companies in the United States. Before starting PPC, Shangraw held a tenure-track appointment in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and an affiliated appointment with the L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science at Syracuse University. He currently holds Professor of Practice appointments with ASU's School of Public Affairs within the College of Public Programs and with the School of Sustainability.

Shangraw has been active in energy and environmental issues over the course of his academic and industry careers. His research has focused on measuring the cost, schedule, and technical risks associated with large-scale environmental and energy projects. At the Rand Corporation, he developed tools for assessing the economic and technical viability of first-of-a-kind synthetic fuel plants. He founded an environmental and energy research consulting firm in 1991, which grew to over 200 consultants by the time he exited the firm in 2004. He has served as an adviser to the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Park Service, and the Food and Drug Administration. One of Shangraw's most important accomplishments was advising the U.S. Department of Energy as it built the Office of Environmental Management during the 1990s.