Dr. Mohammad Modarres is a scientist and engineer specializing in risk and reliability engineering. He is the Nicole J. Kim Eminent Professor and Distinguished Scholar-Teacher at the University of Maryland and Director of the Center for Risk and Reliability (CRR). A pioneer in the field, he co-founded the world’s first degree-granting graduate program in reliability engineering at the University of Maryland over 40 years ago. This program has had a significant global impact, awarded over 500 Ph.D. and master’s degrees and earning recognition as a preeminent center for education and research in risk and reliability. He also co-founded the Nuclear Engineering Minor Degree in the UMD’s Department of Mechanical in 2005.
Dr. Modarres’ research spans probabilistic risk assessment, physics of failure, nuclear safety, and fracture mechanics. His work includes both experimental and probabilistic model development. He has authored multiple textbooks, book chapters, and over 500 scholarly papers, advancing reliability science, engineering, and risk analysis.
At the University of Maryland, he has held several key positions, including Professor of Nuclear Engineering, Director of the Graduate Program in Nuclear Engineering, and Founding Director of both the Center for Technology Risk Studies and the Center for Reliability Engineering. He also served as the Minta Martin Endowed Chair in Engineering.
Internationally, Dr. Modarres has collaborated with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, Austria, contributing to multi-unit probabilistic safety assessment of nuclear plants. He has also served as chair or member of scientific committees for multiple international conferences on nuclear safety, reliability engineering, and risk assessment.
He is an editorial board member of several leading archival journals in reliability engineering and risk assessment.
Dr. Modarres has received numerous honors and awards, including the American Nuclear Society (ANS) Tommy Thompson Award for nuclear safety, the 1996 University of Maryland Inventor of the Year Award, and the FDA Commissioner Special Citation for Contributions to Risk Assessment. He is a Life Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), a Fellow of the American Nuclear Society, and a Fellow of the Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association (AAIA). He is a recipient of an Honorary Doctorate Degree from the Da Vinci University of Guatemala.
He holds a Ph.D. and an M.S. in Nuclear Engineering, as well as an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Tehran Polytechnic Institute.

Click here to view Dr. Modarres’s full CV.