Terry von Thaden (PhD '04) has been appointed to serve as vice chairperson of the U.S.
Air Force Scientific Advisory Board’s study on Combatting Sexual Assault (CoSA). Von Thaden is a human factors research scientist with the University of Illinois Fire Service Institute’s (IFSI)
Firefighter Life Safety and Research Center.
The study will focus on reviewing the scientific work regarding sexual assault and in aiding the Air Force to use that work to address the sexual assault problem. Von Thaden and team will identify and review studies from outside organizations to determine if those results are applicable and relevant to the Air Force. The study will also examine existing data within the Air Force and compare its prevalence and nature in similar organizations. Eventually the work will help the Air Force to identify potential offenders and defuse situations that might lead to assault.
The results of the study will be published in August 2014.
Von Thaden joined IFSI in August of 2012. Her research involves distributed information practice in safety and time critical environments including first response, aviation, medical, security, and transportation systems. Her work investigates human factors affecting risk assessment; individual and group decision processes; information exchange and crisis management, among other areas.
Von Thaden holds affiliate appointments in the University of Illinois Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Human Factors Division, Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering, and Psychology. She currently serves on numerous government-industry working groups. Von Thaden earned her PhD from GSLIS.
The Illinois Fire Service Institute is the statutory State Fire Academy for Illinois. In addition to training provided at its Champaign campus, the Institute offers one-day hands-on classes for fire departments at Regional Training Centers and local fire stations across the State. The mission of the Illinois Fire Service Institute is to help firefighters do their work through training, education, information and research.