National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program

John R. Hayes, Jr. ("Jack")
NEHRP Director
Materials and Structural Systems Division
Engineering Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
100 Bureau Drive, MS 8604
Gaithersburg, MD 20899
(301) 975-5640
jack.hayes@nist.gov

Jack Hayes joined the Building and Fire Research Laboratory (now known as the Engineering Laboratory) in early 2006 as the Director of NEHRP. NEHRP is the federal government's program to reduce risks to life and property from earthquakes. NEHRP consists of four federal agencies: FEMA, NSF, USGS, and NIST. Hayes provides overall program management and coordination; strengthens program effectiveness by facilitating implementation of earthquake risk mitigation measures; and builds and maintains effective partnerships with NEHRP agencies and stakeholders in industry, academia and government. Specific duties include advising the NIST Materials and Structural Division Chief and Engineering Laboratory Director on NEHRP-related issues, strategic plan development and implementation; program evaluation and performance measurement; budget review and coordination; preparation and submission of coordinated annual program budgets; submission of annual reports to Congress on consolidated program priorities, budget and results, including assessments of program effectiveness; information dissemination on earthquake hazards and loss-reduction measures; and related interagency programs and policies.

Prior to FY 2016, Hayes was also responsible for leading the NIST Earthquake Risk Reduction R&D Program.

Hayes joined NIST after serving from 1988 until 2006 as leader of seismic and structural engineering research at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center's Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) in Champaign, IL. At CERL, Hayes was actively involved in earthquake engineering research for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He also collaborated with earthquake engineering program managers at NSF, including work within the Mid-America Earthquake Center, and was directly involved with a number of significant earthquake mitigation projects for FEMA. Hayes participated in developing the seismic provisions for the American Society of Civil Engineers' ASCE 7-05 standard, and he served as editor and lead author on the edition of the Department of Defense tri-services seismic design manual, UFC 3-310-04, that was released in 2007.

Prior to his tenure at CERL, Hayes was Research Civil Engineer and Senior Scientist at the Engineering Research Division of the U.S. Air Force Engineering and Services Laboratory (1984-1988); Structural Engineer at the U.S. Air Force Armament Division (1982-1984); Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering at the Virginia Military Institute (1980-1982); Civil Engineer and NATO Infrastructure Staff Officer at the Headquarters U.S. Air Forces in Europe (1977-1980); and Civil Engineer Officer at Tinker AFB, OK (1975-1977).

Hayes is a retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, having served a total of twenty years in the Air Force and Air Force Reserves and is a registered Professional Engineer in Virginia.

Education:
Ph.D. Civil Engineering, 1998, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
M.E. Civil Engineering, 1975, University of Virginia (Tau Beta Pi)
B.S. Civil Engineering, 1973, Virginia Military Institute (Distinguished Graduate)