Celebrating a milestone of two decades at the forefront of improving homeland security, the USC Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Threats and Emergencies (CREATE) hosted its 20th Anniversary Symposium on April 19, 2024. Nearly 100 attendees participated in the event, both in person and online, reflecting on the center’s remarkable achievements and ongoing contributions to national security.
Established in December 2003 by the newly formed U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), CREATE was the nation’s first university Center of Excellence dedicated to homeland security. In the wake of the tragic events of September 11, 2001, the need for innovative approaches to national security became painfully clear. Now, two decades later, CREATE stands as a testament to ongoing efforts to enhance homeland security through rigorous research and collaboration.
“DHS was established as a way to unify the resources of our government to protect the nation,” said Randolph Hall, CREATE director and Dean’s Professor in the Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering.
In its early years, the center focused exclusively on terrorism, developing frameworks for classifying threats and identifying points of intervention, as well as creating new models for responding to the adaptive behavior of adversaries through game theory and optimization. It also calculated the economic impacts of the 9/11 attacks and other catastrophic threats. Today, the center’s research extends beyond terrorism to encompass a broader spectrum of threats, including natural disasters, pandemics, unintentional failures, and malicious acts. CREATE has become a leading force in identifying and mitigating risks, bringing together faculty and students from the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy to research and innovate.
As CREATE celebrates its 20th anniversary, it remains committed to its founding vision of objective and creative analysis of homeland security threats. The center continues to push the boundaries of risk assessment and economic analysis to address a wide range of threats.
CREATE’s 20th Anniversary Symposium highlighted the center’s enduring impact and its dedication to safeguarding the nation. As it moves forward, CREATE will continue to recruit top talent and leverage cutting-edge research to enhance the security and resilience of the United States.
