David A. Hillson, PhD, PMP

Dr. Hillson is The Risk Doctor, an international risk management consultant who leads The Risk Doctor Partnership. A 25-year veteran who has worked in nearly 50 countries and published 11 major books and more than 100 journal papers and articles on risk, he is recognized globally as a leading thinker and expert practitioner in risk management. Dr. Hillson has developed a wide range of innovations in the way risk is understood and managed, many of which have been adopted as standard practice. He is in high demand globally as a keynote speaker on risk, where his talks blend thought-leadership with practical application, presented in an accessible style that combines clarity with humor, guided by the Risk Doctor motto: “Understand profoundly so you can explain simply.” Dr. Hillson has been active for many years in PMI and has received several awards for his work in developing risk management, including the PMI Fellow Award (2010), the PMI Distinguished Contribution Award (2002), the PMI Eric Jennet Project Management Excellence Award (2011), and the PMI David I Cleland Project Management Literature Award (2013). He is recognized as a subject-matter expert in risk within PMI, and he has made a significant contribution to the risk chapter of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) in every edition since the year 2000, as well as being on the team that wrote the Practice Standard for Project Risk Management and providing guidance for the PMI Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP)® certification. He is currently vice chair of the PMBOK® Guide Sixth Edition update project, with particularly responsibility for lessons learned, volunteer engagement, communication. In 2001 Dr. Hillson was project manager for the highly-successful PMI Europe conference in London, sponsored by the PMI U.K. Chapter. This event led directly to the creation of the PMI Global Congress model, including annual events in the EMEA region. Dr. Hillson has worked to build bridges between PMI and other professional associations, notably the U.K. Association for Project Management (APM) where he is an Honorary Fellow, and the Institute of Risk Management (IRM), of which he is also a Fellow and was named the first ever IRM "Risk Personality of the Year" for 2010-11. Dr. Hillson was elected a Fellow of the U.K. Royal Society of Arts (RSA) to contribute to its Risk Commission. He is also a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute (CMI).